Stowaway
by Tawnyshine
Summary: 10 year old Kate Alley suddenly finds herself trapped in somebody's car while playing Hide-and-Seek. Find out how our favorite gamer settles his unwanted cargo!
1. Hide and Seek

**A/N** I know, I know. Another one? The last one isn't even complete! Buuut I just had a spark of inspiration! I couldn't let this go to waste. This one is more of a comedy than anything, though. And the Rebirth chappies will not stop rolling in! I'm just gonna have to work overtime, Hehehe

I do not own Death Note or any Death Note characters. The only characters I take responsibility for are Kate and Travis.

**

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Chapter one: Hide and Seek**

"One, two, three, four, five, six…" Travis began counting. I grinned and took off. I had a special hiding place. I just found it last night and there's no way he could find me there. He would give up and I would pop out- _Wham!_ Travis would probably wet his pants!

I ran into the giant parking lot. Looking back behind me to see if Travis had stopped counting, I ran faster. I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face as I ducked behind a supporting column to the underground parking space. Who would have thought that I- a ten year old girl- would be brave enough to go into a dark underground garage? I think it belonged to an old hospital or something, but whatever it was, the sliding door was left up, and the lights were burnt out. When I found it last night, sure I was a little scared of it. What if I got hit by a car? But a quick inspection told me that the last moving thing in here was a car.

As I ran, I went further into the deep levels. The farthest I dared to go was the third, though; I had no idea what kind of dog or whatever might live in the deepest part. I was about to just sit and wait to see if Travis would dare see if I went in here when I saw a car.

It was parked, and it looked deserted. It was red, and it had two black stripes down the hood. Whoever owned it must have recently shined it. It didn't look like the owner was going to come back, though. And the keys were still in the ignition.

I tested out the door, which was unlocked. There were cigarette butts in the ash tray, and the seats were leather. I didn't want to get in front; the shiny keys dangling from the wheel might pose too much temptation, and, knowing me, I would drive myself into a concrete wall. I hopped in back and crouched down in front of the seat, on the ground. Even though I was positive Travis wouldn't come this far, I still knew the basics of hiding; to stay concealed. If I just sat up in the back, I would not only feel like I had a target on my face, but I might as well be saying 'Look at me! I'm in a car, and it's not mine!'

I looked at my glowing watch. Three more minutes. Three more minutes until he would admit defeat and I could come out. In three minutes, the beeping on both of our watches would signal the end of the game. Then I would get his share of ice cream.

We made deals like this every so often; over who would do the next weeks' worth of chores, over who had to walk the dog, over who got the last piece of chocolate pie, the list goes on.

Two more minutes until it would beep. Then I could get out of the dark garage. But I never… _ever…_would have anticipated what happened next.

At first, I thought Travis had found me. But then the keys rattled and the door closed. Before I knew it, the engine was started and the car was pulling out of the space. I felt my face go white and tingly. Oh, no…

I peeked out from behind the driver's seat. The guy who was driving was wearing a vest with fur on it. I dared to look a little higher. He had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and his hands were gloved. His unusual red hair was sporting a goggle wearing head. I blinked. He looked like he was barely older than Travis, my sixteen year old brother. But he was smoking! You had to be eighteen to smoke, I knew that much. So he had to be at least eighteen.

I slowly retreated to the floor of the car, lying down on my stomach between the front and back seats. Closing my eyes, I prayed he was a safe driver, at least. I looked up at the window, which had suddenly grown lighter. I saw the sky and a bunch of clouds. Great, it was going to rain. My tulips were going to get a beating if I wasn't home to move them inside.

Just then, the unthinkable happened. My watch beeped. Then again. Then again. My fingers didn't get to the cancel button fast enough, and when it was finally shut up, the car was dead silent. _Keep your eyes on the road!_ I thought as the adolescent stiffened. _Don't land us in a ditch! I need my head to survive!_ Slowly, I felt the car pull over onto the shoulder. I looked up as the boy looked over the seat, his face looking like he expected a bomb to go off in his face. Which didn't seem too unreasonable; my watch had beeped three times. Loudly.

"Hi?" I tried. He just blinked. I slowly sat up. "Uh… my name is Kate. I didn't know this car was yours. I'm sorry; I was just playing hide-and-seek with my brother. That beeping you heard was my watch," I said apologetically. The goggled boy's face loosened up. I saw through his orange goggles that his eyes were bright, maybe brown or green. It was hard to tell through the tint. He closed his eyes, sighing. "What's your name?" I continued.

"My name?" he asked, opening his eyes.

"Yes, you do have a name, don't you? It's very important for getting where you're going in life." I said. He looked at me like he was truly stumped. Oh, boy. This was going to be fun. "You know… the name that comes before your last?" I said slowly. "What do people call-"

"I know what you're asking. You're not scared?" he asked. I thought. True, I had just been basically kidnapped, but he didn't know I was hiding in his back seat. He could be a nerd for all I knew.

"Nope," I said, grinning. "Now are you going to answer my question or can I call you Goggles?" I asked indifferently.

"My name's Matt," he said shakily, as if he had just witnessed a whale do a pogo stick cartwheel. "You should be in shock… You know, screaming, kicking, yelling, begging for me to take you home, haven't you seen any movies? Don't you watch the news?" he asked, partially annoyed. I didn't blame him; you always hear things on the news about child molesters. And granted, on the movies, girls do things like that, usually with pepper spray. But I didn't have pepper spray with me, and to be honest, this guy looked more of a stay-at-home type than a rapist.

"You look more of a homebody than a threat, so I'm not scared." I frowned. I reached up and straightened his goggles, which were slightly crooked. "Sorry," I said. "It bugs me." Withdrawing my hands from his shocked face, I giggled as he just nodded and slowly turned toward the wheel.

"Okay…" he whispered to himself. I don't think I was supposed to hear. "Where do you live, kid?" he asked.

"I'm not going to tell you that! Imagine what my parents would say if I just got dropped off by a strange car! Then I would- hey, are you listening? Then I would have to explain the whole thing to them! No way! You're not screwing this up. I'm going to the place you're going!" I said. Duh! I fiddled with my jacket zipper as he turned back to me.

"No, you're not," he said. He turned back to the wheel.

"Yes I am," I insisted. He dropped his hands from the wheel and sighed, looking back at me.

"No, you're not, now buckle up, I'm taking you back where I found you, you can find your way back from there."

"But then my brother would have called the cops by now, they're probably searching the place. You'd have to explain the whole thing to them, and I doubt they'd believe that I just simply hopped in the car with you," I said.

"But you did!" he said, but still, he turned his eyes back on the road, pulling off the shoulder. "Fine," he said. "I'll take you back with me. But you can't touch anything, and you can't… Well, I'll explain when we get there. And you're sleeping on the couch!" he added.

"Sounds fine to me. You seem like the type of guy who likes cars, what model is this?" I asked, trying to find more information about my unwilling captor.

"1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 450," he responded automatically. So he did like cars. "Why'd you ask?" he asked warily.

"I'm just trying to learn about you," I answered honestly.

"Huh," he said. I tilted my head, running down the list in my mind.

"You like to have fun, don't you?" I asked. He nodded. "You're the unpredictable type, wouldn't you say?" I asked. He slowly looked at me.

"Uh huh," He said cautiously. I went on.

"You like having good friends, don't you?" He looked up. "Thinking of the past, and fighting for things that are worth fighting for. Thinking about the future, planning for what you're going to do. But you don't like loneliness, no, you don't like that very much… You also don't like the promises that people make, but you know they're never going to happen. You also hate the ordinary limitations that people set for you; am I right?" I asked confidently.

"Y-yeah…" he said slowly. "Spot-on…" he said. "How'd you know? We just met…"

"I'm usually good at reading people. Like right now I'm willing to bet you're born around the beginning of the year?"

He nodded slowly. "February first…You're starting to freak me out…"

"Call it instinct. Just try not to veer off the road, 'kay?"

"How old are you?" he asked. "You act like you're twenty!"

"Cut that in half, Matt!" I grinned. "I'm only ten. I'm turning eleven soon, though. This May's my birthday." He nodded. "The 27th," I hinted. He looked at me and half smiled.

"You _are_ smart…" he said, thinking about something. Oh, yeah, I hinted about my birthday. I was a bloody genius.

Instead I smiled. "I get that a lot," well, it was the truth! He rolled his eyes. "So where we headin'?" I asked. He sighed.

"I live in a house with my… partner in… well, not crime, necessarily…" he trailed off. Wait a minute…

"Whoa… crime? Homebody's a criminal? You like cars, I bet you steal those…" I mused. He looked at me funny.

"That's not _all_ we do, but yeah. Careful, I could lock pick any padlock so watch your bikes," he joked.

I rolled my eyes.

**

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A/N: LONG first chapter, I know.. I just had to get the situation introduced xD**

**Next chappie… she meets Mels.. O.O**


	2. Hello

**A/N: AAAAHH! MY MICROSOFT WORD IS DEAD! IT'S NOT LETTING ME OPEN IT!**

**so bear with me for spelling mistakes; I'm doing this on WordPAD. But yuo shouldn't, that's what a Beta's for xD**

**Thought I was dropping this baby, didn't ya? No way. :DD**

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Chapter Two: Hello

Never in my life did I think this scenario was possible. I didn't even think this was a probable equation, so I didn't even care about what I could have done. Heck, I didn't really care what I should have done. I just did.

Well, at least he didn't break curfew.

"Where did you even get the car?"

He shrugged. "Stole it," he responded easily.

"Honestly, Matt! You're third in line to be the next L, and you steal a car."

"… Your point is?"

I sighed. "You'd think with the things you've learned about the law, you wouldn't steal things." This boy was terribly hard to get a word of logic through to his less-than willing mind.

"… Yet again, your point?" Did I say terrible? I meant bloody impossible.

"Matt, you do not steal things. You go to jail for that."

"But… I'm a genius, and putting me in jail would only harm the feds, so… I'm Scott free." He had a point.

Sighing, I sank into my armchair, glancing at the brown haired blue eyed girl sitting next to the auto-theft.

"And your name would be, Miss?" I asked, more politely than I would have treated Matt.

"Kate, sir," she said cheerily, holding out her hand, and I stood up and reached over my desk to shake it. "Kate Alley, if you must know my last name," she grinned.

"Well, hello, Kate. I assume you've… uh, gotten a word in with Matt?" She nodded. "So, what do you know?" I was a little apprehensive of how much the red-head had told this girl. If she was as smart as he said she was at the door…

"I know he's a complete… nice way to put this…" she coughed. "Idiot," she hid it in her cough, and sniffled afterwards. Ah, so she shared my sentiments about the third smartest genius in the world. We'd get along smashingly.

"Yes, I agree," I said, glaring at the pouting thirteen year old. "What else?"

"He steals cars, apparently. And he was in a hospital parking lot, for whatever reason. But it's safe to say he's not a complete screw up. What's this orphanage called again?"

"Wammy's House, my dear child," I answered. "Is that all? He didn't tell you anything of… significance?" Could it really be true? Matt hadn't told her about the 'genius facility' as he called it? She was clueless as to what the orphanage's purposes were?

"No, he didn't, other than the fact that if I touched his friend's chocolates, I would be kicked into next Thursday. But you did say something that I'm curious about." I sighed in relief.

"What would that be, my dear?" We wouldn't have to explain anything unnecessary.

"What or whom is L?" she asked. I blinked. How… Matt!

I glared accusingly at the red head. He put up his arms defensively. "Hey, you're the one who said I was third in line!"

Oh, that's right. I was so caught up in annoyance at the young adolescent that I forgot there was another person in the room. Great.

"Oh, I guess I did. I apologize, Miss, but I can't tell you that." She nodded, blinking. Well, she didn't press me, so I could tell she knew when to say when.

"Aw, lighten up, Roger!" Matt sat up straight in his chair, planting his feet on the ground firmly. "Hey, kid, do that… analysis thing you did with me. She broke down my life story from hearing a few sentences come out of my mouth, the kid's genius!" I looked at Kate.

"Is this true?" I asked.

She nodded. "Right now, I know your name, thanks to Matty here, and I can tell you about yourself. Probably more than you know about yourself, actually. But you probably don't want to hear," she shrugged.

I blinked, raising my eyebrows. She seemed so sure. I looked at Matt, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Go on," I encouraged her.

"Fine. You're patient, reliable…" she tilted her head. "Hmmm… You're persistent, determined, you have a love for security…" I shifted in my seat. "You need it, actually. It makes you feel safer. It's like the baby and the security blanket, it doesn't matter what it is, so long as it promises your safety, you feel better." Matt was right, she was good at this!

I looked at the teen, who was now smirking. She went on.

"You are very warmhearted, Roger. I like that. You can be resentful and inflexible though. That leads to jealousy, and eventually greed and possessiveness. Don't shrink away like that; I'm just reading you for who you are," she said indifferently, for I had reeled back a fraction of an inch from how much she… knew. It's like she could read my mind.

"R-right…" I nodded.

"Right then. You won't be driven by anybody, but you'd be more than willing to follow a strong, trustworthy leader. Again with the safety thing. You love the outdoors, and you hate to be rushed. You like being captivated with something to do, and natural, stable things. You enjoy having time to think, and take comfort in doing so." She tilted her head, her curly hair falling over her shoulder. "Am I right? You look shaken. Are you okay?" she sat up; her blue eyes were alit with worry. She glanced at Matt, who rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

"Yes, child, I'm alright." I looked at Matt. "A word, my boy?" He nodded, and complied, standing up and heading into the hall.

I made sure the door was shut tight before turning to him.

"Amazing, right?" he asked, leaning against the wall, a satisfactory grin on his face. I nodded.

"You took the words out of my mouth. But… Tell me again how she got here?"

He sighed. "I was snooping around in the St. Francis parking garage for cars that were abandoned. I leave my Chevy alone for five minutes, find nothing but a broken down Chug Bug, come back, get halfway down the road, and hear a beep. I of course thought of a bomb, what with how you guys have our brains wired to think that there are enemies lurking around every corner. I pulled into the shoulder, look in the back seat, and there's a little…" he was strangling something invisibly in the air with his hands in front of him before finally settling on clasping his hands together before he could do serious damage to the imaginary victim. "Bundle. Right there, in my back seat." He sounded like he was on the verge of hysteria.

"I… see. But that doesn't settle the matter. How old is she?" I asked.

"Why do you wanna know?" he eyed me suspiciously.

"Just answer the question, Matt. How old is Kate?"

"She's ten, almost eleven. I assume you'd want her birthday?"

"Not at the moment, Matt," I said. "Go find Mello. If I find that her current home is unsuitable, you'll be having a protégée. Go now," I said when he was about to interrupt. He stared at me before shaking his head and stalking down the stairs, mumbling something about a 'ridiculous old man'. I chose not to take offense to that.

* * *

Roger sat me down with a peanut butter jelly sandwich and some milk. I happily bit into the sweet breaded goodness that was a sandwich, and answered the many questions he asked me. They were all normal questions; what my favorite color was, which was army green, if my hair was naturally so curly, and it was, if I had any 'security blankets', so to speak, which I did… my jacket. I need long sleeves, or something on my wrist, or I get super anxious for some reason. If I had many friends, and the answer to that was a big fat no, he also asked what my life was like at home.

"Ah, usual, I guess," I answered honestly. "Mommy could care less what we do, so that means Travis, my older brother, and I are usually out in town. We know almost every person who's a market regular." He suddenly seemed engrossed in my story, so I continued. "Daddy's a fun guy, when he's not… um… drunk," I said flatly. "But it's nothing new; it's not like they beat us or anything. They just choose not to acknowledge us." I shrugged, bringing my lips to the milk glass. He stared at me for a minute, before smiling and blinking.

He stood up and took my empty plate. I wondered aloud to myself why everybody was gone. It was an orphanage, after all. Roger heard my wondering, and turned his head toward me.

"It's just a nice day out; you'll find most of the kids out by the lake. Although, I'm sure you'll find a certain handful of kids inside…" he shook his head like he didn't want to talk about it anymore so I nodded.

I stood up, brushing the crumbs off my jacket. "Where's Matt?" I asked. He looked up from the newspaper that materialized onto the table.

"Matt?" he made sure he heard me correctly. I nodded. "Probably in his room melting his brain with Mario Bros. Second floor, fourth room on the left." He turned back to the paper and took a sip of his coffee. I nodded. This Roger guy was more of a fatherly figure to me than my real dad, and since I'd known him for maybe an hour, that was saying something.

I walked up the stairs, my sneakers clunking against the wood. I got to the door Roger had specified, which was littered with bumper sticker décor. I could have spent hours reading them all.

There were plates like "I'm a few screws short of a bucket of bolts. Don't trust my driving," and "I'm on the highway to Hell, wanna come along?" I grinned.

"Matt, open up, it's me." I knocked. I heard mini gunshots coming through the door. Mario? I doubted it. More like a shoot 'em up game.

"Just a second," he called. I heard buttons furiously clicking. A Gameboy, or maybe a Nintendo? Possibly an Xbox. I rolled my eyes and pushed open the door.

He was sitting on the floor playing some video game or other on a TV. I decided to have a little fun.

Sitting behind him, watching him play, I said "I've gotta see how long you've been lost in this game. What year is it?"

"2004," he answered promptly, his eyes not leaving the screen.

"Good boy," I patted his back. I then smacked the back of his head. Hard.

"What the heck?" he asked, pausing his game.

"You're under eighteen; you smoked in a stolen car with a kidnapped ten year old asthmatic. Nothing wrong with that picture at all. I'm not concerned with the rest of it, but you smoked in a small area with an asthmatic. I could have passed out. Then what?" I stood up and walked over to sit on his lap, which would have been weird if not for the fact that he was maybe five, four years older than me. He blinked, shoving me off.

"Then what, you ask? I'd have taken you back to the hospital and left you there for your brother to find you. He'd assume whatever he would and I'd be rid of you. I'm thankful you're going home soon."

"So… You like red?" He must. The curtains, the bedspread, the rugs, his clothes… red, red, and more red. Aside from his goggles; those were black and orange. He looked around, shrugged, and gave me an "I guess" look before turning back to his video game. I sighed.

"You got two controllers?" I asked.

"Why?"

"Why do you think? I wanna play."

"You? A ten year old? Playing Call of Duty?"

"Depends. Which one?"

"United Offensive."

"Then I'm in. Gimme the controller." I grinned.

We played Call of Duty for what felt like two minutes, but it was more like two hours.

"Oh, hey Mels," Matt said suddenly, pausing the game and turning his head toward the door. I looked up.

There was another teenage boy with a neat blonde bob. He had a perfect complexion, ice blue eyes, and a leather jacket. I noticed he was holding a half-eaten chocolate bar.

"Hey, Matt." He walked over to the couch behind us (we were sitting on the floor) and looked over our shoulders. "Call of Duty?" he looked at me. "You sure she should be playing this?"

"Hey, my kill streak is his _squared," _I jabbed a thumb in his direction. "Travis got me hooked on this game."

"Oh... okay, then." He blinked and poked Matt's shoulder. "Get off your game console for five minutes and answer me. Who's the new kid?"

Matt sighed and just turned off the game. Obviously this boy wouldn't let him play it when he was in the room. I smirked.

"New?" he asked. "Oh... Kate. She's not new. Uh, she's a..." he looked at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Unwanted cargo. He accidentally kidnapped me." The blond boy widened his eyes and looked at Matt, raising his eyebrows. Matt just nodded.

"Little stowaway got into the back of the Chevy." He shook his head, tossing the controller onto his bed and mumbling a swear I was sure I wasn't supposed to hear.

"Tough break," he chuckled. Then he held his gloved hand out to me. "I'm Mello. You planning on staying?"

"Uh... staying?" I tilted my head. "I don't think so. Sweet name, by the way."

"Thanks, it's an alias. We all have one. We never tell our real names, so I'd think of telling everybody a fake name if I were you; you never know if Roger's gonna suck you into this place." He stretched. "Nice day out," he commented. I nodded, and stood up.

"I think I'm going to go talk to Roger about maybe staying. The only aspect that wouldn't be appealing is missing my bro," I trailed off. Matt high-fived his approval.

"Oh! Wait! Before you go-"

"I won't analize Mello."

"Aww."

* * *

YES! I got it done :D *happy dance* I've had this thing saved for like... a month, but I never got to finish. Matt's so cute with his new toy xD

Hopefully, I'll introduce Near, BB, and A in the next chappie...

Reviews! Since I'm too lazy to PM everybody, I'll just respond here.

**Skylarkz: **Haha... I find it extremely comical that everybody assumes Matt's already living with Mello... And yes, I believe there is a reason for that x3 although, I'm pretty sure he was 5th until A and BB left :D

That leaves Mels 4th... and BUN BUN BUNNNN... NEAR's 3RD! not first, which must be pretty satisfactory to Mello xDDD

**Metaknight1234:** Well now you know :3

**Dawnleapord: **Yes, I do feel quite sorry for him. Kate's an annoying little bugger x3

**Deepoblivion99: **... completely different fanfic... WHY WOULD ROSE BE IN THIS ONE? O.o

**DarkSeaRain:** Yet again, everybody assumes he's gonna go back home to Mello.. xD Yes, it would be so much smarter... He was just SO exasperated. You know when you're so annoyed you can't do ANYTHING right? Well, Matt screws up enough as it is, so... this iced the cake xDDD

**Thank you for not giving up on me~~ :D**


	3. A, B, C, D

**A/N: New chappie already? :D**

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**Chapter Three: A B C D...**

Okay, this was going to be fun.

Roger said I could stay there for the moment until he got things situated with L, who turned out to be some super-genius detective. I could picture him in my mind now; spy gear, tuxedo's and sunglasses. Like a really hot James Bond.

So I had situated myself in the commons, which was just a really big living room, and was introduced to most if not all of the Wammy's House residents.

Linda was the first person to introduce herself; she was a nice looking girl with blond hair and a pretty smile. She had long, beautifully painted nails, and I assumed she was an artistic person. She was very kind.

Next, a white haired boy who was rolling three marbles in his left hand approached me. I had to blink to get over his getup; he was wearing all white, which accentuated his hair. His skin was very pale, and I could only guess he was an albino.

"Hello, my name's Near. How do you like Wammy's so far?" he asked sweetly. I smiled. It was impossible not to smile around someone so... _Cute!_

"Yeah, I like it here a lot." I put my finger to my chin, thinking. I blinked and reached into my pocket, pulling out the pack of cards Travis and I were playing with brfore hide and seek. "Here," I handed them to him. "You like cards, right? Those are special; they're only black and white, no color at all." I grinned. "They came in a magic kit, but you can have them."

He took the cards, looking at the ornate black cards with the white numbers and pictures. "There's 53," he stated. How had he had the time to count all that?

"There's a joker," I said, turning my head as another boy poked my shoulder.

This time, he had brown hair and warm brown eyes. I smiled. I certainly wasn't going to be ignored here.

The boy held his hand out. "Hey there. I'm A."

"Hi, A. Is that your full alias, or just an abbreviation?"

"That's the whole thing," he grinned easily. "Have you thought of an alias yet?"

How easily I could discuss thinking of a fake name to use if I ever met a criminal. Hmm...

"Not sure, but I'm thinking of either Echo or Danielle."

"Echo?" he ironically echoed.

"Yep... E K O. Eko."

"Cool," he grinned. "Well, let me know when you figure it out," he laughed.

"You'll be the first to know," I agreed. "Oh," I turned my head as Near tapped my shoulder.

"Will you help me build a house?" he said, indicating the cards. I felt my face light up. I rocked at building houses, seeing as that was one of the many competitions Travis and I held.

"Sure!" I said, following him to a rather large round table in the middle of the commons. There were about three other people there, and they looked on interested as we built the house taller and taller. When we ran out of cards, he twirled his hair for a moment before standing up.

"Wait right here," he said, running toward the stairs. I waited.

He returned carrying about five more packs of unopened cards. My mouth gaped open as he started putting the cards on the table.

"They're not black, but it's okay. It doesn't have to match," he said, handing me a pack.

"Uh... Yeah, I guess. That's awesome!" I said, watching as he emptied the other three packs and spread them out so we wouldn't have to reach too far around the tower to find one.

We made the house of cards about five feet tall, which was saying something because that was taller than my 4'9". A and Mello sat beside me on the couch, while Matt looked over Near's shoulder, staring through his goggles.

Suddenly, A looked up, grimacing. I looked in the general direction he was looking. There was a raven haired boy, about the age of twelve or thirteen, sitting at the foor of the stairs, looking out the window. He was wearing a simple black shirt and jeans. His wild hair, falling over his eyes, reminded me somewhat of a twisted gothica panda. Strange.

I looked at A. "You okay?" he looked sick.

He shifted in his seat, nodding but looking away.

"A?" Mello said around my shoulder. "You okay, buddy?"

"Yeah," he said.

"A doesn't have exactly the best relationdship with BB," Mello said.

"BB?" I asked. Sounded like BBQ.

"Beyond Birthday. He's a freak," A hissed. BB turned his head a fraction of an inch as if he heard. I doubted it. He was quite a ways away.

"What do you mean by freak?" I asked.

"He's different," he answered simply.

"Well that's insightful. And painful."

"What?" Mello asked.

"A freak among freaks," I explained. "That does wonders for your confidince."

"As if," A responded.

"Well, I'm going to go talk to him," I said, standing up.

"Hey, kid, wait!" Matt called, standing up. "That's not a very good idea..."

"Ease up, Goggles," I said. "It's just another genius." I rolled my eyes.

I walked toward the stairs, and several kids stopped what they were doing to watch me approach the pale boy. Jeez. This guy must really be an outcast.

"Uhm... Hi." He looked up at me. He had bags under his eyes, and his eyes were charcoal black.

"Hello." He turned back to the window. I sighed.

"What's up?" I sat down beside him on the stair step.

"Window."

"I... see that."

Insert awkward silence **[here]**.

"What should I call you?" he said suddenly. Oh, crap. I guess.. uh...

"Eko," I answered automatically. I didn't really have to think, really. Just popped in there.

"Is there a particular reason for your name?" he asked.

"It's because I can... kind of "echo" people's emotions. I'm very good at reading people." He nodded.

"How old are you?"

"Ten. You?"

"Thirteen."

More awkwardness should be inserted [not here] [not here] **[here] **there we go! Perfection.

"Is there a reason for _your_ name, Beyond?" I asked. He blinked.

"It's because..." he paused, glancing around. "Do you promise not to tell?"

I blinked. "Of course," I said.

"My name is Beyond Birthday because I can find out beyond the day they people were born. I can see when people are going to die."

* * *

**Reviews! :DD How I loff my reviewers...**

**Nocturnal-Panda: **Seriously? :DD Lucky! You share Matty's Birthday! :DDD

**: **Thank youu :D I'm still writing ^^ Don't plan on stopping :D

**Dawnleapord: **Oh my gosh, she is... tee hee, I love Sherlock Holmes. Though I never considered her being quite like him until you mentioned it! :D

(methinks Kate has a new Idol... xD)

* * *

**BTW... Does anybody else think Light's comparable to Jigsaw (from Saw) in the whole "ridding the world of useless ppl" sense? I mean, COME ON... Jigsaw's the puppet Kira! :D**

* * *

**I had A, B, C, D, E, F, G... H, I J, K, L M N O P... Q, R S.. T, U, V... W... X.. Y & Z... stuck in my head the entire time I was writing this xD**


	4. Unstable

**A/N: I got the most kawaii screensaver of L~ **

**Just a little sidenote... LISTENING TO THE SOUNDTRACK WHILE YOU WRITE HELPS... ALOT!**

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Chapter 4: Unstable

"You're kidding?" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head solemnly. "No, I'm not. Please do not react like I'm a beast. A said the exact same thing." Oh, wow. So _that's _why A hated B. A pretty ironic scenario actually.

When person A hates person B, person B tends to need person A's approval. I knew how that works all too well.

"I... I'm not afraid, Beyond. I'm worried, and maybe a little scared for you, but I know you won't hurt-"

He had a knife.

BB had a knife.

I swallowed. "H-hurt... me..." How did I just now notice the glinting blade he was holding in his hand?

Because the reason he got it out in the first place was to hand it over to a disapproving Roger, that's why.

"Beyond," he said firmly. He didn't say any more, he didn't have to. The teen reluctantly extended the knife and placed it gently in the man's hand. "You know you're not allowed to have this," he said, a little softer. So he did know it was hard on B. I wondered if he knew about... what he could see.

"I know, Roger. But..." he couldn't finish his sentence.

"But...?"

"But I get... anxious without my knife. It keeps me safe."

So he needed security, too.

Or he understood that Roger needed security, and was utilizing that fact.

Of course, Roger knew what it would feel like to have a security blanket. I thought I was the only person who knew of that, though. Whether or not it was an actual "blanket" that he used, I could care less, but it would make sense for BB to play on Roger's feelings to get out of trouble.

We would get along nicely.

Roger blinked, and his eyes softened a fraction of a bit. I could have imagined that, though, because thay hardened right back up again.

"Regardless, B, that's a weapon. It's not allowed in this orphanage. I turned my head when I found out you had a knife, but you simply cannot have it out."

"I'm sorry, Roger," the boy said. He looked so... so innocent. I didn't trust it.

"That's quite alright, Beyond, just as long as you understand why it's wrong."

"I understand."

"Good," he said, pocketing the knife and walking away.

I looked at Beyond Birthday, really looked for the first time. He was lonely. Even more challenging, he was hard to read.

"You do not have to stay, if you feel uncomfortable in my presence." He was stiff, as if he was careful not to scare me, speaking slowly, softly.

It was ridiculous.

"B, I just told you, I'm not scared."

"You should be."

* * *

I watched as the young new arrival stood up from the stairwell. She looked rather spooked, as she should be.

Although, I must admit, I admired her bravery. Not even I would have approached Beyond on the first day, if I was her age, and then keep my composure upon finding out he had a knife within slashing distance.

But over the next few weeks, I concluded that this girl had absolute bravery, or was too ignorant to notice, much less care that B was dangerous. Eko, I believe Watari had reported her newfound alias was.

She kept following Beyond Birthday, and attempting to start a conversation with him whenever possible. The boy would reply as vague as possible, but she set her jaw and persisted to ask questions and ramble on about things, and once he looked remotely interested, even inquiring his own question. It was moments like this that made me regret approving Roger's requests that microphones not be installed.

"Watari," I called. He lifted his head and smiled, already knowing what I was going to ask. My comments on her odd talent had given him the idea, and when he voiced his opinion I didn't deny it.

E couldn't read B, so I was pretty sure B couldn't read E.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, there will be PLENTY of L POV's in this fanfic. Just letting ya kno~**

**Story's gonna pick up next chappie. I promise :D**


	5. Jam

**A/N: This is the BIG chapter...**

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Chapter 5: Jam

"So what kind of foods do you like?" I asked. This was getting tiring, but I was determined. I could tell nothing about this stoic person. I had to figure out what he was like, or it would drive me mad.

He looked up in interest. Finally, a reaction besides "yes" "no" and "anything".

"Jam," he replied instantly. I shifted in my seat on the staircase.

"As in tart jelly?" I asked skeptically. That's it? Just... _jam?_

"Mmmhmm. Why do you ask?"

"I told you... I can "echo" peoples thoughts, emotions, personality... But I can't read you." It was so _frustrating!_

Suddenly, he was in my face, not-so-gently pinning me to the wall.

"I'll tell you everything about myself if you give me your name."

My name...

Mello and Matt had said to never, ever give anyone your name, no matter what.

"Come on, Eko. I'll tell you. Everything."

Flashes of bloodstained walls fluttered behind my eyes. I was terrified.

"Everything."

I was tempted.

"What's your name?"

Was it worth it? Would I risk my safety for a little info on his personality, if he even had one?

"Beyond," a monotonous voice said from behind B. Near!

I wanted to whimper, to scream, to yell for him to do _something,_ but before I could do anything, Near continued his death threat in a threatening tone I didn't know he was capable of. "I don't suppose you're being_ unpleasant _to dearest Eko, are you?"

Beyond got a sadistic look in his eye, one that made my blood curdle. His lips lifted in a freakishly scary grin. Scariest part was: it was attractive. But it only made me more terrified; I knew that most predators did look attractive, only to lure the victims in for a bite.

He leaned in to whisper in my ear. "All you have to do is say two. Little. Words." He drawled them out, so that it took half of eternity for the dreadful, spine-chilling voice to end. Then it picked right back up again. "First name. Last name. Easy as-"

"Beyond!" a familiar, hot-headed voice said. I recognised Mello, and when I listened, I could hear Matt's exhausted breathing behind him. They'd been at the lake for the day; I could only imagine that they'd run back here when Near left to get them.

Beyond's nails dug into my skin as he grimaced, and I couldn't help yelping. He had a tight grip, and when you add dagger-like nails...

And then BB went Bye-bye.

I was frozen in shock as I realized that Mello had actually roundhouse-kicked Beyond away from me. A tiny part of me was worried that B would have a black eye, but quite frankly, I didn't care.

B stood up and faced Mello, and Near tried to sneak around him to get to me so he could help me get away, but B rounded on him.

"I don't believe I want you to get to Eko," he said menacingly. I threw myself at him, grabbing his arm before he could hit Near.

"Get away from him!" I screamed. "Don't touch him, you creep!" I wanted to punch him so badly, but I felt a pair of arms enclose around my waist.

"Kate, don't," Matt whispered in my ear. "It'll just get him mad," he dragged me away. "Besides, Near is perfectly capable of-" BB went crashing to the ground. "...defending himself..."

I bit my lip and watched from Matt's restraining grip. "Are you sure they'll be fine?" Even though it was two to one, I was thoroughly terrified of the black-haired sadistic boy. I was actually worried that Mello and Near would get hurt.

"They'll be fine." He looked down at my arm, lifting it up and inspecting B's claw marks. "The question is, will _you_ be oka-"

"AARRGH! You think you're _so great,_ don'tcha, SHEEP?" Mello was now rounding on a bewildered Near, who had just smacked B.

"Uh... Matt?" I nudged him. They could use help. More specifically, Near could use help. With an enraged Mello, and a BB that could use Mello's anger problem to his own advantage, Near was as good as toast.

"Got it," Matt said, pulling his goggles over his eyes and jogging toward the fuming boys.

"Mello, remember who's side you're on!" I called. Near looked over his shoulder.

_"Not. Helpi-"_

"NOT HIS!" Mello pointed. I facepalmed. Matt had gotten Mello under control, but...

BB had fled up the stairs.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open to the sound of panic. I sat up in bed and looked around at my room, expecting some sign of what was going on to be in front of me.

Of course, the door was shut, so I could barely hear words, even when they were being shouted across the orphanage.

I could hear some of what they were saying, though.

"A?"

"What happened?"

"Is he alright?"

"What the..."

I was at the door already. If it was A, I'm pretty sure it's B, too.

I popped my head out of the door. "What's wrong?" I rubbed the sleep from my eye. Roger was standing in the hall talking in a hushed whisper to one of the teachers.

"Eko, darling," Linda's voice ironically echoed upstairs, "why don't you come to the kitchen for a cup of tea with me?"

Roger nodded, giving me permission to be up, and I walked downstairs.

Linda made some sort of tea that was supposed to calm nerves. It just made me more sleepy. "Hey, Linda?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"I heard someone shout for A. Is he alright?" She didn't answer. "Linda?"

"Sweetie, won't you go to bed? It's late." I nodded, downing the last of my tea and groggily heading upstairs.

Roger and the teacher were gone, so I looked around and headed for a different door.

I couldn't stand Mello's... erm, loudness, when it came to bad news, and Matt was... well, I'd come to think he didn't care about what happened anywhere anytime. I needed to talk to a thinker, one that could evaluate and comfort me with a few truthful words.

I knocked on the door. "Near? You awake?"

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, looks like BB got WAY mad, lol. **

**I like to think that B shoved A out the window, and the fight with M, M2 and N sparked his rage that night.**


	6. Awake

**A/N: AAAAHH! My interwebs is closed off!**

**It kills me not knowing what you guys think of my chappies before I start writing... I have no idea if I'm on the right track... hehe.. "write" track.. tough crowd.**

**(as if I've gotten any more reviews.. COME ON, GUYS!)**

**Yet again, I've been neglecting my disclaimers. I don't own DN, got it?**

**I'll assume you have a memory that lasts more than five chapters, because chances are I'm not gonna remember my disclaimers in the near future :3**

**Get it? **

**Near future?**

**Near?**

**You humorless swines.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Awake

"You awake?" I heard from the door. Of course I was awake. How could I sleep after... what happened?

I didn't feel like talking, so I stood up and headed for the door, letting Eko in.

"Yes?" I asked softly. Even my voice was mourning.

"Near... what happened? Why won't anybody tell me anything?" She didn't know?

"Eko, were you awake approximately two hours ago?" she shook her head. I blinked and stared at her. "Eko, come and sit down," I said, turning from the door. She followed me, and remained standing when I sat down beside my puzzle. It was completely whited out; no picture to go by, more challenging.

"It's B, isn't it?" she asked suddenly. Did she still worry for the derranged boy? I supposed it was good that _somebody_ was watching out for the jam-obsessed different, but I doubted there was much a ten year old girl could do, especially when it came to protecting Beyond Birthday.

"Why do you ask that?" I looked up, honestly curious.

"He hurt A, didn't he?"

I had to remind myself to keep breathing. She had reached the conclusion I had. A had supposedly jumped out of his window; I thought B pushed him out, and fled Wammy's.

"Eko, do you know... what happened? To A, I mean?" She looked up, her curly hair falling out of her eyes.

"He's dead, isn't he?"

I didn't say anything. I didn't have to.

* * *

A. He was... dead. He died.

"How?" I felt my knees give out from under me, and sunk to the ground, letting out a gasp as the impact of the ground reached my lungs.

"They're pretty sure," Near said, "that it was suicide. His body was found on the ground outside of his room; he was on the third floor. His neck was broken, so he was immediately killed. They're positive he didn't feel anything."

I felt sick at how calmly he could say all these things. I looked at his grave face, almost positive that it would be hard to get him to smile the way he had when I came to Wammy's the first day. He was smiling, laughing, showing all of his teeth, snickering as Mello berated him. But that smile, all traces of even a grin, was gone.

He was bent ofer a whited out puzzle. His chin rested on one knee, while the other was bent as if he were about to cross his legs. One hand was busy clicking the puzzle pieces into place, the other was cushoning his chin from his knee. He was about halfway done with the puzzle, his hand slowly, steadily, keeping pace, never faultering, picking up the pieces one by one and putting them in place. _Click, click, click, click,_ steady as a heartbeat. It had amazed me the first time I saw it; it was like he knew where they went before he picked them up.

I was watching, and he came to a piece that even I could tell where it went. It was a little one that belonged in the upper right corner, the only one with a triangular nub, whereas all the rest were rounded until you got to the middle of the puzzle.

But his hand stopped.

"Near?" He had picked up the piece, but his hand stopped over the puzzle, not moving, his eyes narrowing.

"Near, you okay?" His eyes had closed, and he dropped the piece, his arm coming to join the other one as he buried his head in them. "... Near?" I whispered. He didn't answer. I don't know why, but I glanced around to make sure we were alone, then hesitantly reached out to put my hand on his shoulder.

I must have been hanging around Mels too much, because I expected him to pull away. He didn't. I bit my lip and turned my head, keeping my hand on his shoulder, and tried to prevent the tears from coming down my face. They fell anyway.

If I hadn't gotten in Matt's car, I wouldn't be so sad. I wouldn't be here, training to put my life on the line, wouldn't be mourning over somebody who had become like my brother in less than a month.

My brother...

I suddenly wondered what Travis was doing at that moment. Missing me, no doubt. I wondered if he called the police. Then Roger would have told them that I was in an orphanage, ready to succeed L, greatest detective on Earth, then they would have to drop the case.

They would drop the case.

My family thought I was dead.

But true, if I hadn't gotten in Matt's car, I wouldn't be crying over A. I wouldn't have met him. I would have probably met Matt when he was heading back to his car, but I would never get into the car with him willingly if I knew it was somebody else's I thought it was abandoned at the time.

If I hadn't gotten in that car, I would have never met Mello, or Near, or Linda, or Roger...

I would never get a chance to meet L in person...

I wouldn't be this _free._

A wouldn't kill himself; sure, he was terrified of Beyond, but not to the point where he would jump out of a window.

"Is his body still there?"

He looked up, his eyes were red-rimmed. Oh, the irony. Finally, a bit of color on him, but it's not for a good purpose.

"I think so. The paramedics are too far into the city to get all the way out here so fast. It'll be another hour before they can come get the body," his voice cracked on the word "body". Near was hurting, too.

I nodded, teking my hand off his shoulder and standing up.

"What are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his eyes like a little kid.

"I need to see something," I said, heading for the door. I stopped at my room on the way. It was pouring outside; I wasn't about to go out there in a nightgown.

I was just lacing up my boots when a pair of red eyed Matt and Mello's appeared at the door. Matt widened his eyes a little at my outfit, clearly taken aback that I was fully dressed at two o'clock in the morning. "I'm going out," I said numbly, brushing past Mello.

"Hey... where?" Matt called.

"Out," I replied, almost as monotonously as Near.

Mello caught me in the hallway. "Eko," he said, his eyes hard.

"I just... I need to think. You can't believe that A would kill himself, do you?" On that cheery note, I pushed out of his grip and tiptoed down stairs.

Roger and a group of other staff members were in the commons, gathered around the fireplace, hanging their heads. Linda, who was just about the only person at Wammy's who was old enough in Roger's eyes to understand death, was standing somberly by the entryway.

When I passed her on my way, she looked at me but I just shook my head. She was probably too out of it to care.

I snuck past Roger and company, slipping out the door and into the pouring rain.

Near said he had jumped out of his window. That would mean he was around the East wing. I headed there.

It wasn't hard to find; they wouldn't want to disturb him, because when they came to pick his body up, they'd probably do something to it. They wouldn't want him to be drenched, either, so they covered him up.

I'm pretty sure that was the only splotch of white in the entire field, unless Near was hiding in a tree or something. I crouched beside it.

I couldn't smell the death yet, but I felt it.

They didn't touch his body; that much was said by the position he was laying in.

"A..." I whispered.

I put my hood down and pulled the sheet down, off of his face. It was frozen in horror, terrified. Last minute thoughts about jumping out a window? Or murder?

I bit back the bile rising in my throat as I rolled his shirt up slowly. I screamed, standing up in shock, crying freely now and bringing my hand to myt mouth. "A..." He was...

"A!" I screamed, falling to my knees and crying into my hands.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, but it was too tiny to be Roger. I looked up.

"What are you doing out here, Eko?" A familiar blond voice asked. I stood up and buried my face in Linda's shoulder.

"A's... A's..."

"He's gone, I know. He's not hurting."

"No, he's..." I pointed, and Linda gasped.

There were slash marks down A's chest and stomach.

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNN!**

**Too predictable?**

**I'm just a predictable writer. **

**Rate and Review! :DD**


	7. Forgerey

**Just wanted to say, I own nothing except the things you don't remember. Or maybe you have suckish memory. If that's the case, I only own Kate and Font... muahahhaha**

* * *

Chapter 7: Forgery

We've decided to keep the truth about A's death a secret.

Or course that didn't mean that L wouldn't be hunting _him_ down.

We told Roger to tell all the children that, in the event should they ask, A had indeed committed suicide. If I knew L as well as I thought I did, he was thinking about the young girls who knew.

About Linda and Eko.

This would be a test, for Eko especially, to see who they were more loyal to; L or their "best friends". Of course, this was only a theory. I knew my adopted family member's mind well, but even that wasn't enough to call L "predictable". If it was a correct theory, though, I knew Linda would have no problem keeping the secret. And as for Eko, we only had to worry about Matt and Mello finding out. I would be worried about Near, but through all the tapes I have of the commons, of the lunch room, of the garden, all the times when they interact, they never speak. Not once. They just wordlessly pick up a game of cards or stacking dominoes. Occasionally, they would exchange a greeting, and even that was only several words.

There was that one tape, though, the one where the camera was taking surveillence of the hall, on the night of A's death. Eko was walking down the hall, a disturbed look on her face. she paused at Matt's door, but continued on to the blind spot just around Near's door. We can't have our cameras in the actual bedrooms, for obvious privacy reasons, but we can watch all students out of their dormitories. Eko entered the blind spot, assumingly either entering Mello or Near's room, being adjacent to eachother, and emerged about five minutes later. She had been crying, that much was obvious. We had two options, here; One, she had gone to Mello in a time of need and he had said something mean, which wouldn't surprise me with that temper he has, or two, she had gone to Near, sensing something wasn't quite right, so they swapped theories about what happened. Near knew A was dead; he was awake with the many who were when he "jumped". So if Eko thought something was wrong, and Near trusted Eko, which that was certainly the case, he would tell her about A. Why shouldn't he?

But now, several weeks afterhand, they started visiting eachother. Frequently. Not just Near and Eko, either. Sometimes Mello and Matt would visit Eko, or vise versa, and Near would bother himself enough to go find Eko when she didn't come see him sometimes. The longest those four have gone without seeing eachother would have to be two days, excluding Mello and Matt, who were always together. Mello seemed resentful at the fact that one of his companions was the albino misfit, but he put up with him around Eko, at least. Regardless, I'm sure poor Near endured enough verbal abuse.

"Watari," L said. I looked up.

"Yes?"

"Come and have a look at this. Tell me what you think," he turned his laptop toward me. I stood up and approached the screen.

A man was apparently holding a daycare centre hostage. That was very ordinary. "But L, things like this happen every day. Why the interest?"

"Oh, that's not live footage. I've rewound it so you'd understand what was happening in the situation. Watch, it gets better, I promise," he was serious. I turned my gaze to the screen.

_"Wait! We're seeing something here," _the news broadcaster said. _"It looks like there's movement at the front entrance,"_ she said. Indeed, several women and children were pouring out the door, the ones too young to understand what was going on laughing, others crying and screaming in fear.

_"The hostages are coming out!"_ a different voice was saying. _"And they all look to be unharmed."_ Why did he sound so surprised? Did he expect a death? "_Special forces are taking action, they're moving in!"_ He was getting as worked up over this as a small child explaining how Batman defeated the Joker, in detail. _"We don't know if the suspect has been arrested. Huh? Yes?"_ his voice was matched with a terrified face, hand clutching his earpiece. _"Okay, we now have confirmation, the suspect has been found dead, inside! I repeat, the suspect is now dead!" _L paused the video.

"It's not over, but your thoughts?"

"Suicide?" I offered. He shook his head in a very 'you-have-so-much-to-learn' way, sighing. He pressed play again.

_"Special forces are denying allegations that they shot the suspect," _he continued after several seconds of shocked chattering from bystanders.

_"So it's quite possible that he was feeling cornered and decided to commit suicide?"_ a woman voiced my theory. I wasn't too off, after all.

_"Well, according to the statements of our hostages, the suspect just suddenly collapsed!"_ I nodded, signaling that I understood.

He had died of a heart attack.

"What was the date?" I asked after he stopped the video.

"It was a news broadcast last week. The very first broadcasted criminal heart attack. I believe we've found our first victim, and it was likely that it was a test

L, you have struck again.

**(line HERE)**

I sighed in annoyance. She wasn't here, and I was getting bored again. I stood up, twirling my hair and hating the fact that I was willingly leaving my room.

I shuffled down the hall, pondering over the reality that had settled over Wammy's since A died. Beyond had run for it, too. Life without him, it was different. There wasn't an overbearing vibe coming from the corner that there was a stalker, waiting to pounce on and kill you.

I got to her door, but before I knocked, I heard a little of the tune she was singing wuietly to herself.

"_All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, you better run, better run, outrun my gun, all the other kids with the pumped up kicks, run run run, faster than my bullet..." _I blinked and quietly opened the door, popping my head in.

"Care to explain why you're singing about homicide? It is a very catchy tune, but the words are rather unnerving."

She sat up, for she was laying on the bed, and grinned. "Near-kun! You have superb timing, I was getting bored," she said, standing up and crossing the room. Even though she was from Britan, I had used Japanese formalities around her enough that she slowly fell into the habit of using them.

"Well, that's all very nice," I heard from behind me, "but we were coming, too. Looks like there's gonna be a little party," Matt walked around me, followed by a grinning Mello. I couldn't help but inwardly cringe; that boy didn't exactly have the best wishes for me. Mello, not Matt. Matt and I got along extremely well. His erratic, quick-witted, short-attention span had a somewhat calming effect on my always-thinking mind.

"Here," Mello said, pulling out a handfull of chocolate bars. "To that _freak_ Beyond being gone for good, and in memory of the best of the best," Mello passed around the chocolate bars, hesitating when he got to me, sitting next to Eko. "And... I..." He was making an effort around Eko-chan, anyway. He sighed. "I guess the sheep can have one, too," he said, extending one to me. I looked up at him.

"Is Mello sure?" Beside me, Eko tensed, noticing as I did how Mello seemed extremely annoyed at my small challenge. "Eko-kun, relax. Mello-san doesn't have to be nice to me," I noticed how Mello's eyes narrowed as he noticed the difference in titles I gave them, "if he doesn't want to."

I was ready for him to blow up, but he glanced at the worried Eko, and sighed. "Take it," he set it on my knee and retreated to Matt's side. I picked it up and unwrapped it, thoughtfully snapping off a piece. Was Mello being nice just for Eko's benefit?

I couldn't dwell on that for too long, because Linda popped her head in the door.

"Eko, do you know where Matt, Mello and..." she saw us sitting there, powwow style, most of us laughing at Mello's disgruntled expression of being caught in a girls room by Linda. "No fair! You guys are having a party without me," she joked, coming and sitting down beside me, scooping me up in her lap so she could fit into the circle. I felt like a stuffed animal. An albino stuffed animal.

"Linda-sempai, could you please put me down?" I asked politely.

"No," she grinned.

"Why not?"

"You're too cute," she laughed. "I feel like you're my little puppy!" She touched my nose with hers. Even though the girl was almost in her 20's, easily twice my age, we all looked up to her as if she were our motherly figure. Heck, she basically _was_ our motherly figure.

"Aren't _I_ cute, Linda?" Matt asked, scooting closer to Linda.

"I dunno, I can't see through all that chocolate on your face," she licked her thumb and started to scrub Matt's cheek.

"No, no no no no!" Matt backed away immediately and fell back on his back, propping himself up on his elbows. Eko laughed, and toppled over, as did Mello.

"Matty's got a girlfriend, Matty's got a girlfriend!" they chanted. I felt the corners of my lips tilt up.

"Do not!" Matt protested. "Stop!" he began to blush, scrubbing Linda's spit off his cheek with his hand.

Linda giggled, a cheery, whimsical sound, and finally got them to settle down. "Guys, I came up here to tell you that we have a new arrival here. His name's Font."

"Font?" I asked. It wasn't uncommon that we got an unusual alias, Near and Mello, for example, but Font was the most different I'd heard since Beyond Birthday.

She nodded. "Roger says he can forge any signature just by seeing the size of somebody's hand or something like that. I dunno, wanna go meet him?"

"Sure!" Eko jumped up, pulling Matt and Mello up with her. I looked pointedly at Linda, who giggled and let me go. I scrambled across the room and behind Eko, far away from Linda and her perfume-smelling blouse, and followed them downstairs.


	8. L

**Otay, now that I've got one cannon chapter up, it's time for the ICPO meeting... Let the Canon scrambling begin... muahaha...**

* * *

Chapter 8: L

"There have been fifty two deaths that we're aware of, and that's just in the past week."

"Every single one of them involved a heart attack."

"They were all criminals who were either being held in prison or who were wanted by the police for outstanding crimes, and I think it's safe to say, that there are other criminal's deaths who are unaccounted for."

"In which case, the death toll could be well over one hundred." The word hung in the air, as several people looked around and repeated the word in shock, realizing that could very well be true.

"Uh," I looked up as somebody took the seat to my right. "Mornin' Chief. They started the meeting without you."

"That's fine," he turned to me, "I had to take an urgent call from head quarters."

"At any rate," we both looked at a man who had begun to speak again, "these are criminals who were probably facing excecution sooner or later. Perhaps we shouldn't be-"

"Why should it matter wheter it's a criminal, or someone innocent? Last time I checked, _murder was still murder!_" somebody interrupted. I agreed silently.

"Well it's too early to consider this as a _homicide,_" somebody reasoned.

"Then how did all these people have heart attacks at the _exact same time?_" he countered. "That's not coincidence, it's murder!"

"You think that it's possible to simultaneously kill people in different locations?" the stubborn man asked.

Somebody got fed up with the argument, apparently, because he spoke up. "We are treating this as an elaborate murder plot that's been carried out by a large organization."

"If it is a large organization," somebody with a deep voice that couldn't be trusted said, "I'm sure I'm not alone in suspecting the FBI or the CIA."

"_I dare you to say that again!"_ somebody, apparently from America, said.

"Now, now, this is not the time to be joking around!" a large man with a walrus mustache said, standing up and waving his arms. "We need to confirm that these are indeed homicides and not coincidence."

"How?" somebody, the stubborn one, asked. "Autopsy results show that in all these cases, the victims died of a sudden heart attack." The room was alive with disgruntled murmering, people pushing aside their babelfishes to speak with their partner.

"Investigating a series of heart attacks is pointless," a new voice said, "I don't see what else we can learn."

"Absolutely!" someone agreed. "If these people had been shot or stabbed, at least we'd have something to go on!" I nodded to myself.

"If that's the case," the man who had brought up the subject of murder said finally, "then it looks like we'll have no choice but to bring in L."

Silence swept over the room. Then a wave of whispering followed, people whispering fervently to eachother, some nodding, others scowling.

"Ah, Chief," I leaned over and asked, "What's this 'L' they're talkin' about?"

"Right," he nodded, "I forgot that it's your first time at this conference. We don't know L's real name, or whereabouts, in fact we still don't even know what he looks like. However, he's managed to solve every case he's ever taken on, and he's solved some of the greatest mysteries this world has ever known. He hides in the shadows, but he's the best of the best. A last resort. Our Trump card."

I blinked. How come I'd never heard of him before? I mean, if he was the best detective in the world...

"But I hear that this 'L' is extremely arrogant," somebody said, "and I understand that he will only take on cases that he's _personally interested _in."

"That is exactly right!" Another man agreed. "Besides, we don't even know how to contact L!"

_"L is already on the case," _an old sounding, monotonous voice sounded through the room. The room was so silent, you could hear the man's footsteps as he walked to the center of the platform, a small briefcase in his hand.

When he got to the light, I could see that he was wearing a large trench coat and an oversized hat, so that his face was imposssible to see. L?

"Gentlemen, L has already begun his investigations on the case."

"_Watari,"_ Chief said beside me.

"Wah..? Who's that?" I asked.

That man's the only known person who can contact L. Nobody knows _his_ true identity, either." I nodded.

"Please be silent," the man, Watari, said when the room started to buzz. "L would now like to address the delegates."

He put the suitcase on the podium, and with a start, I realized that it wasn't a case at all, it was a laptop. An ornate "L" pulled up on the overhead projector behind him.

_"Greetings to all of you at the ICPO," _ an electronic, metallic voice filled the silent air. _"I,"_ it began arrogantly, _"am L."_

* * *

"The difficulty in this case relies on it's unpresedented scope," I began. "And make no mistake, we're witnessing an atrocious act of mass murder, one that is unforgettable." I looked at the men through the camera. Some of them were listening intently, others were leaning back in their chairs with their arms crossed, as if they weren't buying anything that I said. "This case cannot be solved without the sole cooperation of the ICPO. That is _all _of the police organizations _you_ represent throughout the world. You need to make the decision to _fully_ support this investigation, at _this_ _meeting._" I glanced at Watari through my viewfinder. "Also," I remembered, "I require additional support from the Japanese police agency."

"Wha..?" I saw a dark haired man stand up, followed by another man several years his senior.

"Why Japan in particular?" he asked.

"Whether the guilty party is a single person, or a group, there's a strong likelihood that they're Japanese. Even if they're not, we can be sure that they're hiding in Japan." The two men glanced at eachother, amazed at my deduction.

"And what is all this based on?" the older one asked. I could assume he was a chief, what with how much authority he was sporting.

"Why Japan, you ask?" I mused, nibbling on my thumb and studying the shocked faces of the men at the ICPO meeting. "I think I'll be able to provide you with proof of that, after I directly confront the culprit."

His eyes narrowed. "A direct confrontation?"

"At any rate," I ignored him, "I would like to set up the investigation headquarters in Japan."

* * *

I ran downstairs with Matt and Eko, Near trailing behind at a rather slow pace. I skidded to a halt outside Roger's office, Matt crashing into my back. I would have been able to keep my balance had Eko not crashed right into Matt's back. I fell, barely able to protect my face with my hands, and Matt was left on the edge of his tiptoes, Eko on hers, both of them trying to avoid falling. I rolled over, blinking and looking at a smirking Near. I felt my eyes widen.

"What?" Matt asked. "Mello? You're freaking me out, what's wrong?"

"Near..." I started, "don't... you... _dare..._" Near had extended his pointer finger, and at this point, Eko's eyes had widened into the size of silver dollars.

"N-Near-kun?" she stiffened, which only made the situation worse, because that would make it easier to shove her over.

By now, Matt realized what was going to happed. "Near, I swear to whatever God you believe in, if you push me over, I'm gonna dye all your clothes red and black!"

Too late. Near barely poked Eko's shoulder, but it sent her crashing into Matt, who jolted forward. Self preservation kicked in for Eko, who wrapped her arms around poor Matt, making his seemingly impossible balance on one foot even harder.

"Matt... Don't fall... Please..." I stared up at his pained expression, and realized that he was torn between screaming (because of the pain in the only leg touching the ground on top of the fact that Eko was basically latched onto his back) and laughing his head off.

"_NEAR!" _Eko yelled. _"I'M HIDING ALL YOUR CARDS AND DOMINOES FOR THE NEXT MONTH IF WE FA-" _She was greeted (or rather, Matt was greeted) by a nice gentle little push on the leg Matt had suspended in the air.

They went tumbling, as if they were said cards and dominoes. I scrambled out of the way, but not fast enough apparently. They crashed down on me, effectively pinning me down and painfully numbing my left leg. I was gonna murder that sheep...!

"Oh, come _on!"_ Linda called from the stairwell. "You guys can't go fifteen minutes without getting into a fight?" she looked over our tangled forms, and then at Near. "Did you do this?" she asked, wide-eyed. Pfft. Grown-ups never saw what the perfect, whited-out golden child did wrong. It was always, "Gotta go check on hot-headed Mello", or "Who knows what trouble that tempered Mello got himself into," blah. Blah. BLAH.

I scrambled to my feet, wincing as I put weight on my still-numb left leg. "Near! I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna-" Oh, God, the little eraser ran fast when he wanted to. He sped up the stairs, almost knocking Linda over.

"Near?" she called after the speeding boy, who was probably hiding under his bed by now, "Don't you want to meet Fo-" she clutched the banister, because I was ripping past her. "... Font..." she said quietly when I was on the top step.

"Near!" I panted, looking around. "Get out here! Coward!" I tore off to his room, skidding in front of the door, putting my hand on the knob. I put my ear to the door, listening. _One... Two... Three!_

I burst into the room, looking left and right, in time to see a white sock disappear under the bed, as I suspected. "Near, I'm gonna murder yo-" I felt a pair of arms restraining my arms from behind me.

"Mel... lo..." Roger panted around my thrashing. "Why is this... neccesary?" he grunted.

"Lemme go!" I yelled. "I'm gonna murder that colorless swine! NEAR! Get out here so I can smash your FACE IN!"

"Mello!" Roger scolded disapprovingly.

"Mello-kun!" Eko called from the doorway. I froze, for a fraction of a second, to look at her, but it was a long enough distraction for Roger to tow me out of the room.

"I... Hey!" I started. "Lemme go! Lemme go!" I fell to the ground, crossing my legs and looking up at Roger. "... I'm in trouble again, aren't I?"

Roger sighed. "Mello, you didn't hurt him. _This time._" he said. "You didn't do any harm, so I don't see why you would be."

I looked up. "R-really?" I blinked. He nodded.

I jumped up. "So I'm not in trouble until I bash Near?" I asked. He sighed and nodded. "Awesome!" I fist pumped. "Lemme at 'em!" I raced to the door, but he caught me by the arm.

"Not today, Mello." I blinked, and scowled.

"Fine," I turned to the stairs and stalked down them, where I found a very relaxed looking Matt and a... Holy crap, they were twins!

He- Font, I'm guessing- had black hair and blue eyes, but other than that, he was an inverted Matt. He even had the goggles, only his were the kind with the adjustable straps on the side. Where Matt's shirt was black and red striped, Fonts was blue and black. To make things creepier, they looked at me at exactly the same time, and I noticed that they were sharing earbuds to an i-pod. Matt grinned, pulling his earbud out.

"Eerie, huh?" he said. Eko, who was coming up behind me, stopped and did a double take.

"Awesome thing is," oh my God, they even _sounded_ the same! "I can dye my hair red, get contacts, and he could dye his black, get blue contacts, and you'd never know the difference. Only problem is that I might have to teach him to master my sig, but I've pretty much nailed his. Look," he tilted his head toward a single piece of paper. "One on the left's mine," he said.

Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference.

"Why does Matt get all the new toys?" I complained jokingly. "First, Eko climbs into the back of his car, and he gets a mind-reading, now we find his twin!" I shook my head and sat down on the couch next to our new arrival. "I'm Mello," I said.

"Hey there, Mello. I'm Font," he grinned and held out his hand, which I shook. His eyes were averted to my right shoulder, where Eko's face suddenly popped up beside. "Well, hello there. Who're you?" he held out his other hand, making an "x" with his arms between shaking my hand and hers.

"I'm Eko, spelled with a 'k', not a 'ch'. Nice to meet you, Font."

"Oh, so _you're_ the mind-reader that Matt was talking about!" his eyes were laughing. Eko rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a mind reader, but I'm willing to bet I know more about you than you do yourself." Her challenge was met by a rebellious spark in Font's eye, and he withdrew his hands, crossing his arms.

"Oh, really? How much you willing to bet?"

Matt burst out laughing. "Ah, Font, buddy... you _really_ don't wanna do that," he said between fits of laughter. Font turned to his newfound friend and snorted.

"Dude, she's what, seven?"

"Actually, Font, I believe you'll be surprised to find I'm almost eleven." Apparently, he was.

"Wow. Only two years younger than me."

"You're only thirteen?" Matt asked.

"One year younger than you," he rolled his eyes.

"True..."

"Alright, I'll bet twenty," she said, pulling her wallet out of her jacket pocket... wait... did she carry _everything_ in there?

Font smirked, obviously accepting, because he slapped twenty down on the table. "Deal."

She smiled the Devil's smile, and I stood up so she could sit down.

"Oh, Font... you trust your first impressions too much. We'll get along perfectly."

"Yeah, yeah, just get to the part where you owe me forty."

"Hmmph. Fine, let me start here. You're very pessimistic, miserly, grudging, and fatalistic. Condradictory to your outfit, you like black the most. On the bright side, though, you have a very good sense of right and wrong, and you're very practical. You think very deeply, thoroughly exploring every single possibility before deciding on a 'safe' alternative. You have a good memory, and you love learning new things. You're rational, logical and clearheaded, have good concentration, and have huge delight in debate so that you can lure your opponents into traps, and confusing them with logic. You've got great respect for authority, but you might not be willing to take too much advise, and you don't want any opinions on things you're responsible for." I could tell she was concentrating, hard. "You're like me in the way that you love to prove others wrong, all the time. It makes you feel heady. You're patient, reserved, humorous, ambitious and disciplined, though that might just lead you to more trouble. I wouldn't go as far as to say you're 'afraid' to break rules, but you only break them when it's neccesary. Freaked out yet?" she raised her eyebrow at an unemotional Font.

He nodded, his facade of calm breaking when he blinked and looked away from her ice cold eyes. "Yeah," he laughed. "Okay, I was wrong. Remind me not to get on your bad side," he easily grinned, pushing the forty dollars toward Eko.

"Thank you, and okay. Hey, Font?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't get on my bad side," she giggled.

* * *

**A/N: HAHAHAHAHA I GOT THIS WHOLE THING IN 2 HOURS FLAT! I win :3**

**I've got so much planned for the "Souta, Boukuda KIRA" scene... only sad thing is that's gonna be my last chapter D:**

**Or at the very least 2nd to last. **

**And Dawneh, told ya I was finished :D**

**I just had to beta, cause MY BETA bailed. =L lol JK she just couldn't get on xD**


	9. Airwaves

**I'm finding it hilarious how you all love Font. Personally, I find him to be quite a jerk.**

**But you guys don't know him yet ;D**

* * *

Chapter 9: Airwaves

"Can you believe this crap!" I exclaimed rather than asked. Font, who was imitating Near today, in all meanings of the word "reversed" his style altogether.

It was like Dark Link. Creepy.

"What?" Kate- ah, Eko, I've gotta get used to that- popped her head over my shoulder.

"You Google one word, it puls up sites like these. Though, I guess I should have saw this coming. I looked up 'Kira', and already these sites are popping up."

"Matt, why were you looking Kira up?" Linda, who was baking cookies on a whim, asked.

"On the off-chance we can get in on an 'insiders website', they might provide with some information that, although doubtful, might be impossible for L himself to find."

"Matt, that's insane. Albeit, a nice plan, it would be nice to present L with some info, still insane," Linda rolled her eyes. I shook my head and moved my laptop out of the way, so Linda could wipe up the counter.

"So what should us Wammy's kids do? Actually go to _class_?" I asked, putting the laptop back down on the counter.

"Well, that is the purpose, yes."

_Ding._

Linda opened the oven, and the sweet smell of homebaked chocolate chip cookies filled the air. Mello was downstairs in an instant.

"Hey, Mels," Font said, mimicking Nears monotone.

"Listen, sheep, don't you _dare_ call me Mels- Font?" he stopped short of his sentence.

"Hiya," Font laughed.

"You're wasting your time being Lamb-chop's reverse. He's not worth it."

"I take that to offense, Mello-san." Near himself came padding in from the commons. "Linda, your baking smells wonderful."

"_Kissass_," Mello mumbled. I nudged him, hard, and looked pointedly at Ka- Eko. EKO. We didn't need her to start talking like Mels. It would have Roger award us with a "Bad Role Model" award. And we weren't the best to start with.

Near took a seat at the bar next to Eko- yay, I got it right- and for some reason, Mello snorted, hopping up next to me. Font squeezed his way in between me and Eko, helping himself to one of Linda's mouthwatering baked discs of goodness, and I got tired of scanning through the many Kira supporting sites, instead getting a live feed of TV on my browser. I was just aimlessly flicking through, when suddenly Near interjected.

"Wait!" I froze. "Go back!" he rarely got this excited. What was up?

I flicked back a few channels. OH, sereously?

There, on the screen, was the unmistakable L that we all knew and idolized.

_"But I assure you, L is real, _I_ do ,"_ there was a very forceful, very intimidating yelling voice, "_Try to kill me!" _

"What?" Linda was immediately huddled, as were Mello, Font, Near, Eko, and I, around the screen.

"Rewind it!" Near commanded. I was too shocked to come up with a witty reply, just did as he said.

I rewound til I saw a blue screen. _Play._

_"We'd... like to apologize for the interruption," _a middle aged man said, shuffling through some papers on his desk. _"We will now bring to you... a live world-wide broadcast from Interpol's ICPO." _We all looked at eachother.

_"We now take you live, to the ICPO."_

A man with black hair, a stone cold gaze, and a neat jacket appeared onscreen. A nameplate infront of him read **Lind L. Tailor.**

Could it be...?

_"I head up an international police Task Force which includes all member nations. I am Lind L. Tailor. Otherwise known as L."_

L? This was L?

"L!" Eko gasped.

Linda "Oh!"-ed.

L! It _was_ L!

Mello was suddenly paying prompt attention. Near was skeptical.

"Why would he choose now to show his face to the... Matt, feed."

I paused the video and hovered my cursor over the task bar.

"It's a Japanese Radio feed, that's where L's headquarters is. Why?" Near just nodded.

"Continue the video, please." Even Mello didn't seem to care that the boy two years his junior was bossing me around.

_"Criminals around the world are being murdered by a serial killer. I consider this crime to be the most atrocious act in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will hunt you down. I will find you!" _ I felt my heart soar at seeing our idol in action, telling the bad guy that he would lose against the greatest of all time.

_"Kira,"_ he continued, "_I've got a pretty good idea what your motivation might be, and I can guess what you hoped to achieve. However, what you're doing right now, is _evil._" _

The word hung there in the air for a moment, the only movement was Linda slowly, solemnly nodding her head in agreement with our icon.

He must have known the effect he had on everybody, for he smiled a smile that gave me shivers.

It seemed as if he was about to say something, when out soaring hopes, our joy at seeing our mentor unmasked, went plummeting.

His eyes widened, and L clutched his chest, slumping dead, to the table.

* * *

I could not believe what had just happened.

I watched as two men took my proxy off the set, and instructed Watari to have the broadcasting station place my signature letter upon the screen, already positioning myself to speak into the microphone. I was pretty sure my incredulousness and shock could be heard, even through the filter.

"I... I had to test this just in case, but I... I never thought it would actually happen. Kira. It seems you have the ability to kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it. Listen to me, Kira, if you did indeed kill Lind L. Tailor, the man who you just saw die on television, I should tell you that he was an inmate, who's execution was scheduled, for today." Then, in a tone that sounded as if it were obvious the whole time, I said "That was not me. The police arrested him in absolute secrecy so you wouldn't have heard about him on TV, or through the internet..." I was now mainly mulling to myself at this point. "It appears that not even you have access to information about these types of criminals. But I assure you," now I was directly approaching the monster, calling him out, "_L_ is real, _I_ do exist. Now," I felt something challenging, what was it... was this testosterone? "Try to kill _me!_" Watari shifted in his seat, but I only became more engaged in the threat. I was angry.

"What's wrong?" I taunted. "Can't do it? C'mon, right now! Kill me! Kira, come on, I can't wait for it. COME ON! KILL ME!" I was getting worked up over this. So much, that I believe I frightened Watari a bit. I sat back down, for I realized that I had gotten onto my hands and knees, yelling at the computer screen.

"Can't you do it?" I taunted once I'd regained my composure. "Well, Kira," I heard my own arrogance, "It seems that you can't kill me after all."

* * *

**A/N: wowza that's the FASTEST I've ever typed xD**

**I really get "into" it when I'm talking about the Wammy's Icon~**


	10. Chocolate

**A/N: I've got Emilie Autumn's "Misery Loves Company" stuck in my head, LOL.**

**Who likes cookies? :D**

**Question for the comments: Would you use the Death Note, knowing that you wouldn't go to Heaven or Hell, if you were extremely angry at a person?**

**My answer: YEAHHHH... xD**

**Linda... she's a genius. xDDD**

* * *

Chapter 10: Chocolate

I passed around celebratory cookies to the five kids, who were cheering. Even Near, who usually never got excited, was grinning ear to ear. L had trumphed evil yet again.

Font hi-fived Eko, who hugged Near and Mello from behind at the same time. They both cringed at the contact Eko forced upon the two boys, but I think Near actually didn't mind Eko. I quirked an eyebrow. It was obvious that since Eko arrived, Mello and Near had been _trying_ to not fight, in front of her, at least. Matt popped up between Near and Mello, saving us all from a disaster that anyone could have predicted. Didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the friction was growing between the two boys. Fast.

"That was awesome!" Matt said around a cookie, lifting the ten year old girl up on his shoulders. I chuckled. He could put up with kids more than Mello could, that was certain. Though I think it was more of a diversion to keep Mello and Near from exploding.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Linda!" she laughed, grabbing Matt's hair. Matt mockingly leaned toward mello, who held his hands up.

"Not again! This'll be the second time this week you two fall on me!" Matt laughed out loud, setting Eko on the counter.

"Easy, Mels," he chuckled, "I was kidding. I would never drop the precious cargo," he stuck his tongue out at Eko, and I giggled. We all knew how Eko had played stowaway and hitched a ride in Matt's _stolen_ car, but Roger was grateful for the addition to Wammy's.

I looked at Mello, who was talking to Matt and glaring at Near. I was surprised he hadn't attacked yet.

"You," I grabbed his shirt, "come with me."

"Hey, what gives?" the young teen asked as I towed him into the hall.

"You're not being _you_. Why haven't you mauled Near yet?"

"Believe me," he blew his bangs out of his face and crossed his arms, "I want to."

"Then why haven't you attempted to murder him?" I asked. Mello's eyes widenedd, and I backtracked. "Don't get me wrong, I love it when that boy goes a week without a black eye, but still, you seem to have more restraing. Don't tell me you've grown up?"

He blushed for whatever reason, looking away. "Y-yeah, you could say I've grown up..."

"Well whatever. You know it's Eko's birthday next week. You should do something nice," I prodded. He looked at me.

"You pulled me aside to see if I would do something for Eko's birthday?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Mello, it's not as if I doubted you, but I already know what Matt and Near are getting her. Font as well. Of course I know what _I'm_ getting her. What will you do?" I sat down on the stairs and patted the seat next to me. He was suspicious: you should never, ever trust somebody with a large grin and a kind ego.

He shrugged. "What are the others getting her?"

"Near's going to give her a teddy bear; I've seen it, it's the most adorable thing. Font's getting her a makeup set, just because she's a girl, and he's planning on teaching her the art of the disguise. Matt's going to get her a baseball cap and a pack of Pokemon cards. And _I'm_ going to treat her to a manicure," I announced proudly. "So whatcha gonna do?"

He thought. "For some reason all I can think about is giving her chocolate." Big surprise. "I just really don't wanna because then if I get her chocolate, then everybody's gonna tease me."

"Why would they tease you for giving her chocolates?" I asked, amused. I knew why, I just wanted to see if he would blush.

He did, but he looked away so I wouldn't see. I saw it in the window, though. And he was a genius. Bah.

He mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, what?" He mumbled something, while louder, almost more intelligible. "Mello, you'll have to stop mumbling."

He sighed, and turned to look at me, his eyes glaring at me. See, big improvement. By now, he would have usually stormed off down the hall.

"They would laugh because everybody knows boys give girls chocolates when they like each other, Linda." He said each word clearly, as if he were explaining to a small child why it was wrong to intimidate a pit bull.

I smiled warmly. "Mello, you don't have to love a girl to give her chocolate. If that's all you can think of, just give her a simple chocolate bar."

"But that's kinda lame, and it _is_ on her birthday."

"True."

"You agree?" he turned his head toward me so fast I could feel the wind generated by his head.

"Well, if you got a single bar of chocolate for your birthday, wouldn't you be put off?"

He blinked and put his head on his fist. "True..."

"I know. You can help me bake the cake." He raised his eyebrow, not bothering to look at me this time.

"But that's not a gift you can keep... A teddy bear can help you sleep. A baseball cap and Pokemon cards last virtually forever if you take care of them. If Font's teaching her how to be a master of disguise, then that's a talent that she'll keep if she's good at it. I guess a day at the spa for you guys is like, I dunno, female bonding." I nodded in agreement.

"Quite right."

"So if you two are friends, that's probably gonna last forever. Chocolate lasts basically as long as your hungry." He was really thinking hard on this one.

"Well, for starters, you could get to know her better." He lifted his head off his fist but didn't look at me.

"Uuhnn?" He blinked and put his hand back on his fist. "That could work," he sighed. "I guess."

"You guess?" I said, acting as if I couldn't believe my ears. "You, Mello, the smartest fourteen year old in the world," I edged around that, seeing as he _was_ the smartest _fourteen year old,_ "are just going to _guess_ at things?" I put my arm around his neck, pulling him in for a hug. "Come on, Mels, you'll think of something. But that's beside the point. I originally came here to ask why you've been restraining yourself from Near."

He groaned.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't laugh."

"Why would I?"

"... I'm... _attempting..._ to be nice to _him_ because I think I hurt Eko's feelings when I'm mean to him."

"Ah, so it _is_ Eko..." I mumbled to myself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Never you mind. Tell me, Mello, it hurt _my_ feelings when you were mean to Near. Why is it different with Eko?"

"Because she's still a little girl, duh. You're old, you don't count," he grinned, hugging me.

"Oh, thanks, that helps my esteem a _lot_."

"I know," he stood up. "Thanks for the help, Linda. I think I know what I'm getting her now."

* * *

Eko was young, but she would do.

In the few weeks she was here, she had managed to work her way up to number one, effectively shoving Near to second, Mello to third, and Matt to fourth.

This was still an improvement on their part; A and B were 1 and 2. Now, it was almost impossible to imagine a third place Near, but it was true.

"Watari, you do know I might need my successor's help with this case, as well as the police Task Force, correct?"

**A/N: Yeah, I went there. L needs help. Don't hate on me. xD**

**And thus we enter a stage where I begin to smash up the canon plot and re arrange them to make them dementedly mine. Also, IMA have a few guests come and to the disclaimer, just because you'll need a laugh with how deathly serious things are about to get.**

**50th reviewer gets a cookie. Just putting it out there, I know I'm only at 20.**

**[[sorry if you got a double update, the doc manager was being a jerk]]**


	11. Zuzu

**Tawny: Hello :3**

**Aizawa: .. why am I here?**

**Tawny: Just do the disclaimer, afro man.**

**Aizawa: .. but what significance do I have for this chapter?**

**Tawny: *sigh* Afro man, the canon has begun. Therefore you are important to L. Therefore you are important to the storyline.**

**Aizawa: I'm important? I wish somebody would have told me that a LOT sooner.**

**Tawny: Just do the disclaimer.**

**Aizawa: Tawnyshine doesn't own anything except the parts of the plot you don't recognise, unless she says otherwise.**

**Tawny: Aww, Afro-man's a poet, and he didn't even know it :D**

**Aizawa: - -"**

* * *

Chapter 11: Zuzu

I watched as Mello and Linda came back into the kitchen, absent mindedly nibbling on a chocolate chip cookie.

"Near?" I looked up as Roger came up behind me, asking if I could come to his office. I wasn't concerned; I hadn't done anything wrong, and even if I had, I would deserve any punishment Roger found fit.

As I walked in, I noticed that there was a girl about the age of twelve sitting in one of the office chairs, across from the door along the wall.

Her plated skirt was a light teal, and her shirt was an almost transparent, pink shell colored Victorian-style shirt. Her knees were drawn to her chin, and her arms were hugging said knees. Her hair, perfectly straight and obviously dyed silver, reached her waist. She was wearing fingerless gloves, the same teal color of her skirt. And on top of her head, she was sporting a pair of teal... cat ears.

"Near, this is Cizia."

"Call me Zuzu," she interjected.

"She's new here," Roger explained. "Since Mello and Matt have their hands full with Eko, perhaps you could show her around Wammy's?" Even though it was a question, he may as well have been ordering it. I sighed, nodding.

I turned my head to look at the girl again, and realized with a start that she had already stood up, and was standing mere inches away from me. I blinked as her own huge hazel eyes stared mine down. When she had stared at my eyes for a few (seconds, minutes...?), her eyes started darting around my face. Apparently, she either liked or merely approved of what she saw, because she smiled.

"Hello," her hand raised to wave at me, and I realized that the bottoms of her gloves were pawprints. Wait a minute...

"Roger," I turned my head, "how come Font didn't need an 'escort'?"

"Because Font's old enough. And anyway, he spends a considerable amount of time with Matt, Mello and Eko as it is."

"Right..." I looked back at the girl, and I had just noticed that she was holding a small stuffed cat. "Erm, forgive me, but your name was...?"

"Cizia, but please, _please_ call me Zuzu!" she almost purred. I wondered what environment this girl had grown up in...

"Alright, uh, Zuzu."

She had attained a peculiar light in her eye, almost challenging. I lifted my chin as I accepted the unofficial staring contest. Her eyes got sharper, harder. Like she was trying to melt something. Roger cleared his throat.

"Near, why don't you show Cizia-"

"Zuzu," she didn't break eye contact.

"Erm, Zuzu, to the commons? So she can meet some new frie-"

"Friends are useless unless they actually care."

"Most friends _do_ care, Zuzu-san," I pointed out.

She tilted her head. "You can never, _never_ trust. Anybody." I blinked. "You lose. Where's this 'Commons', Snowball?"

My hand reached up to twirl my hair. "My name is Near." Well, technically, my name was Nate, but that was a different life.

"Whatever, Close," she walked past me and to the door. "You gonna show me around or what?"

"..." I walked past her, and she followed me to the commons.

"So how long have you been here?"

"I have been attending Wammy's House Orphanage since I was approxamately three years old," I replied stiffly.

"Jeez, relax. You'd think you were a robot or something."

Funny, that's what I was aiming for most of the time.

"I know."

She didn't answer.

"Hey, new kid!" Font bounded across the Commons, for they had abandoned the kitchen by now. "So... you like cats?" he noted the stuffed cat, which she was now wearing like a backpack type thing. She nodded fervently.

"Cats are so carefree," she said, almost dreamily. "I'd give anything to be a real cat."

Matt and Mello came up behind Font, closely followed by a very perplexed looking Eko.

"Who's Kitty?" Matt asked as Font put his arm around Zuzu's shoulders. Zuzu herself, obviously unaware that he meant that intimately (or she knew, she was just ignoring him), just responded to Matt as if she didn't have a boy who was out to grab every girl in the orphanage hanging off of her.

"My name's Cizia." She looked at me, and her eyes darted to Font, and I understood. She did _not_ want Font to know of her preferred pet name. Understandable.

"Sih-_zee_-yuh..." Font played with the name, hearing it roll off of his tongue. I saw Mello roll his eyes. Even Matt seemed to be a little annoyed at his newfound 'bestie', as they called themselves.

She turned her head, while at the same time pulling her face as far away from Font's as possible, a feat that wasn't altogether easy, considering the fact that he was basically playing "Pirate's Parrot" on her shoulder.

"So... erm, what's your name?" she asked to nobody in particular, but Font replied instantly.

"Name's Font. I can replicate anybody in the world's siggy without even seeing it first."

"... siggy?"

"Sounds like cigarette..." Matt mubled. Oh, that's right, Roger took those away from him. I wondered when he would find out he was smoking. He _was_ only fourteen, after all.

"Signature, guys. Get with the program."

Mello, who had obviously tolerated enough, snorted, glaring at Font. "Alright, F. You've scared her enough. You don't even know how old she is and you're already flirting with her." He turned to Zuzu, a slight smirk on his face. "I'm gonna say sorry for him, but only because if it's not done, _he_ sure as hell won't do it, and then you might get a bad impression of all Wammy's kids." I was actually surprised to see that Zuzu looked apologetic, for some reason. Or maybe it was just sheepishness?

"Actually, Near-san gave me a pretty straight-forward impression," she admitted. '-san'... so she was Japanese? "You know, smart, understanding, but still guarded."

"Guarded?" I inquired.

"Well, yeah," she turned a full 180 to look at me, all but throwing Font off of her shoulders. "When I met you, it was like you didn't want to talk to me until you knew what I was like."

"Wouldn't anybody be like that?"

"I'm condensing that, actually. You were very exaggerated in it."

... I was? She turned back around to face Mello, leaving me to ponder the supposed 'wall' that I had up.

"So... what's your name?"

"My name's Mello." Zuzu held out a gloved hand, and Mello shook it.

"You can call me Zuzu," she said. Font tilted his head. "_You,_ however, cannot. I remain Cizia to you." I silently approved.

"Alright, let me get this straight," she said, slowly turning around and pointing. "Near-san I know... Matt-san, Mello-san, Jerk-san-"

"Hey!" Font interjected. "I'm not a..."

Cizia had stepped in front of Font, so close he had to step back, but she took another step, so that their noses were touching, the young girl pressed against him threateningly.

"Don't," was all she said. Font blinked, possibly shocked at the venom that was used in the sentence. I noticed with a start that her teeth, now bared, were _actually sharpened_.

"C-cizia?" Font asked in a high-pitched, frightened voice.

"Hmm?" she asked, ever so pleasantly, yet still terrifying. Mello, Matt, Eko, and Linda (who had just walked over to us) stood there, frozen in shock, as did I. She was still standing in front of him, they hadn't moved from the position.

"... Okay," Font whispered. The twelve year old girl smirked, stepping back. Who knew a neko could be so... terrifying? A child at that.

"Okay _what_?" she was enjoying his squirming. She was pure evil!

"I-I won't call you-"

"Call me _what!" _she shouted. Even I flinched.

"Z-zuzu!"

"Thank you," she said, venom gone, returned to a proper young lady. She turned to Eko, as if nothing had happened, holding out her hand. "And who are you?"

"I'm Eko. Nice to meet you," she replied cheerily. Zuzu turned to me, and I could still see just a hint of poison in her eyes. Winking, she turned to Linda. She _winked at me_?

I sat down on the ground, pulling out three marbles from my pocket, twirling them in my left hand, twirling my hair with my right. What an odd day!

* * *

As I was flocked by children, some around my age, some not, I tried to keep up with all of them and _him_.

He was so _robotic._

It was so _unnatural._

I wanted to break him. I wanted to see _some_ emotion on his face. It seemed that "nothingness" was the only mood he had.

I would crush his wall. I'd get him to feel something. Happiness. Pain. Fear.

It posed a new challenge for me; one in where I had to "wake up" a living zombie.

I enjoy challenges.

* * *

**Tawny: Okay, guys, I'll admit this to you, I've had this finished for a couple days...**

**Eko: *cough cough* PROCRASTINATOR *cough cough***

**Tawny: Exactly. :3**


	12. Birthday

**Me: YO! GET OUT HERE!**

**Mello: -edging around the corner-**

**Me: MELLO!**

**Mello: -jumps- -walks up- What do you want, woman?**

**Me: Tell the pretty people I don't own Death Note, mmkay?**

**Mello:... you just did...**

**Me: Oh, I did? **

**Mello: Yeah. Perhaps you should spend this disclaimer in an apology?**

**Me: What did I do wrong? D:**

**Mello: Let's see... What was the last time you updated, Tawny?**

**Me: Well, let's see- OH you were being a smartie-britches. T_T**

**Mello: Yup.**

**Me: Well, guys, I'm sorry. I have a reason for not updating. **

**Mello:...? That would be?**

**Me: 1) I was working on several drawings 2) I got a speedpaint put up 3) I have two stories I'm working on, guys, both of them centered around, at, or about Wammy's at the current point in time. It's confusing DX and 4) I HAVE LOST MY LIFE TO THE CASEY ANTHONY TRIALS. No joke, it's sucked me in.**

**Mello: O.O Wow, you actually DID have a reason.**

**Me: DID? I'm DID...**

**Mello: ... not the identity disorder... Just get writing, woman.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Birthday

I grinned smugly to myself as we all walked home to Wammy's. Matt kept pestering me as to what was in the little box I had pre-wrapped (my wrapping skills sucked) and put in a sack. Especially since, in order for this gift to work, _everybody _Eko knew had to participate. Matt, Linda, Font, Zuzu, and even the sheep had agreed to follow up on their part, but I wouldn't tell them _what was in the box_ which made them wish for Eko's birthday as much as Eko was.

* * *

"_Wake. Up."_

"Go away," I mumbled.

"_Eko!"_

"Okay, jeez. I'm awake."

"Good," Matt stopped yelling at me. I lifted my head, and just stared at him.

"What? I'm awake."

"_Get up._"

"Okay, okay. Bossy," I said, sitting up. He continued to eye me until I sighed and stood up. "Happy?"

"Very." He grabbed my hand. "Come _on_."

I _just happened_ to see the clock on my way out the door.

"_What kind of party is held at seven thirty in the morning?"_

"Uh, a party for Wammy's birthdays." He might as well have said 'duh'.

"Whatever. I'm too tired to-"

"Mornin', Eko," I recieved a tazer to the ribs from Linda. "Wake up, kiddo, It's your birthday," she said. As if that prompted me to open my eyes further. Ha.

_"Linda,"_ I whined. "Make them _shut up,"_ I complained. I used the word 'them' because I had spotted Mello and Near (one yelling at the stoic other) and were now watching them approach me. Mello of course had to get here first. I sighed.

Why couldn't they just get along?

I sat down on the floor, crossing my legs and putting my head on my hands. "I refuse to move until a decent time has passed."

Mello rolled his eyes and sat across from me on the floor. "What's wrong?"

"Your 'buddy' woke me up for a party," I said, my voice indicating my desire to knock out said 'buddy'.

Mello blinked, turning his head up to the red head. "Matt... Party's not til three..."

"I thought she should wake up!" he defended.

I just stared at him, and I'm pretty sure the face I was wearing was pretty tworked off.

* * *

Once it was a decent time, I allowed Linda to drag me to the dining room table, and I was pleased that there hadn't been a big setup. Not really a 'real' party. There was soda and cake and ice cream and presents wrapped in single colored paper with the occasional bow. The fanciest one by far was just because it had deco floral print on it... I was guessing that was Mello's store-wrapped gift.

Linda pushed her own gift toward me. I stifled a chuckle; she could be very childish when she wanted to be.

I plucked the lid off the box, pulling two coupons out for some hot springs that expired in a month. I grinned. Only Linda.

The rest of the unceremonial exchange went on like that; Font got me a makeup set and a pack of calligraphy pens... I was tempted to give the makeup back to him, but that would hardly be graceful on my part compared to... him and all his.. erm... 'Font' ness...

Near got me a teddy bear; a simple chocolate brown one that was almost as soft as Near's hair looked. Matt had bought me a simple white baseball cap that had an E in black old London font on the bill and a pack of Pokemon. Zuzu got me a shirt with a cat tail printed on the back. I opened Mello's last, because he insisted on it.

Inside Mello's box, there was a chain that I could see, but I would have to get it out to see what was on it. I fumbled with it for a second, trying to get it out and hopefully not break it, until Linda pointed out that there was a clasp on the bottom of the box, holding the chain-thing in. Sneaky.

When we finally got it out (unscathed, thank God), I saw that it was a bracelet, just a simple chain with an E that matched my new cap. Zuzu sat up, basically purring. I would get used to the strange girl's ways; Already, it was hard imagining even a lunch break without the twelve year old neko following me, Near, Matt and Mello around.

"Mello, you're a genius!" she said, grabbing my hand and pulling somehting shiny out of her pocket and attatching it to my wrist. The others, seeming to know what Mello may or may not have planned, followed suit, taking turns in grabbing my wrist and hooking the little shiny thingies onto me. By the time they were all finished- one danglie each- my hand was encircled in several charms; the original E, a pawprint, a die, a pen, a paintbrush, a Nintendo, and a chocolate bar with a little bite out of it. They were all silver. I smiled, actually truly smiled.

"Thank you, Mello..." I said, mesmerized by the little charms.

"Hey, don't mention it, kid. It was all of us, really," he pointed out.

"But you told us to 'buy a charm that you think fits our personalities the most'," Matt said. "You were the mastermind. We just followed directions."

Near nodded.

Mello shrugged. "Aww, come on, guys, I was just doin' somethin nice for the first birthday she has here at Wammy's." Linda smiled at him, and for some reason, I felt like she was smiling about some inside-joke between Mello and herself. I decided to ignore it. If it was important, it would come out.

* * *

Ugh. This was _not_ my week. Every time I closed my eyes...

I curled up into an even tighter ball around my new bear, burying my face in the top of her head. There was _no way_ I'd be able to sleep tonight. My eyes widened further as another _BANG_ of thunder ricochetted off of my walls.

So normally I wouldn't be afraid of storms.

I flinched as lightning lit my room up.

But if it weren't for the fact... _There was the thunder..._ that the last time I was in a storm...

That was A's death date.

So naturally I would associate this weather with A, right?

... that was natural, right?

I tried to distract myself by looking at my bracelet (I never took it off, even if I'd only had it for a few days) but it was no use. If anything, reflective metal wasn't a good combo with the lightning you're trying to forget.

It also didn't help that my head was right under the window.

Or that the storm was like... the worst England has seen in FOREVER.

I was honestly worried Winchester would blow away just like that. Just like now I was suddenly standing at my door and gaping at the ground I had just flew across without touching it. Well at least I hadn't left my bear back in the bed, because I wasn't going back to the window bed from Hell.

Yeah, I'm eleven and I say Hell. It's called a 'Mello influenced vocab', get used to it.

I honestly didn't know who's door I was headed to until I was right in between two familiar doors; Mello's and Near's.

Of course, I wouldn't go to Linda. Do you know how many kids are scared to sleep alone when it's just sprinkling? I can handle mist.

Font's just a perve. Matt'd probably either reject me or laugh then reject me. Zuzu would keep me up all night talking about random ADHD influenced subjects.

Mello and Near were the only two left... God, why did they have to be boys? Then again, as the thunder teased me, I didn't _care_ about their gender, as long as they weren't scared.

I decided to go for calmer seas. But I didn't know if I should knock...

I almost screamed as a new wave of thunder engulfed Wammy's. Putting a hand over my mouth, I cracked Near's door, just enough to see the albino insomniac was actually _sleeping._ Great. If I woke him, I'd probably feel guilty if he couldn't go back to sleep.

Besides, he gave me a bear. Yeah, it's not much, but they're supposed to offer protection of mind. The last thing I needed was one of my best friends seeing me as weak. Ha, then what would Mello see me as, a hamster? That was sarcasm, by the way.

I closed Near's door. I did _not_ want to be the reason he lost sleep that he needed. I blinked, standing at Mello's door. Almost anxious because I had no idea how he would react- _if _I had the guts to wake him up- to me wanting to get _away_ from that wretched storm-!

I didn't bother with the deliberating for knocking, just opened the door and sat down by his bed on the floor. For some reason, just knowing somebody was _in the room_ helped. My was I so _anxious _in a storm? It's just rain and noise!

And electricity and the reminder of a friend's death...

I'm going to save you guys a _lot_ of time and just say I fell asleep arguing with myself over why I was sleeping sitting up against Mello's bed on the floor because of a bunch of thunder.


	13. Thunder

**A/N:  
**

**Eko:YES TAWNY HAS FINISHED THIS CHAPPIE~~~~~**

**Tawny:Otay, on to more story related subjects. 1) I'm back in school, so chapters will be in more often.**

**This sounds inverted. My explanation?**

**It seems I can only write fluff and such while I have a teacher rambling on in my ear about shit I don't care about. 2) My thumb (that people like Moony or Abyssehness may/may not know about) is no longer swollen, is no longer bleeding every time I poke it, and it is no longer PAINULLY in PAINFUL PAIN anymore, so I WILL be typing FASTER. 3) The plot of Eko's entire life throughout this story has been determined; I expect this fic to be about 53-7 chapters, depending on whether or not I have filler chapters or if I think of something essential that NEEDS to be added.**

**Eko:Whew, now that THAT is all taken care of, we now bring you:**

* * *

Chapter 13: Thunder

There were seven particularly loud _booms_ of thunder that I was pretty sure woke all of Wammy's house up.

The first time, I kind of blew it off. I mean, it's only thunder, right? The second time (which was slightly louder), I became aware of a pressure on my arm. Knowing I wasn't exactly a 'light sleeper', I assumed it was a pillow or something I had knocked off onto the floor and had propped itself against my arm. One third crash, sounding like the storm was going away. The pressure lessened. _Odd._

But I had _no idea_ how _odd_ it was really going to get in about fifteen seconds.

There was another bout of thunder, but this was loud- like, _loud._ The pressure- more of a _death grip_ now that I try to realize what it is- got tighter as the fifth crash, within four seconds of the last one, was seeming to be double the volume. The next one got me sitting up... It sounded like it was right outside my window. The seventh and final crack of ear-splitting thunder made me realize that there _was_ in fact another person in my room. And me sitting up, because they were clinging onto my arm, had basically pulled them up onto my bed.

I am not ashamed to say the last crash had my heart pounding. The second person next to me was a little more than welcome.

Keep in mind, the last four cracks were about three to five seconds apart. Very fast, but still scary.

"M-Mello..." I heard a very small voice to my left. I looked over.

Squinting, I could barely make out the form in the dark beside me. That form flinched as another distant crash of thunder sounded out in the background.

"Eko?" She nodded.

"... You're not mad, are you?" I had to almost stop breathing to hear her whisper.

"I'm not following. Why would I be mad at _you_?"

"... Never mind, Mello."

We were quiet for a while. Just her luck, the poor girl had just managed to stop shaking, another crack, while not anywhere _near_ as loud as the others, had sent her grabbing onto my arm with a little yelp of surprise.

Her eyes widened as she realized that she was actually clinging onto my arm- no matter what the circumstance, these things are still awkward- and sheepishly let go. I was sure I wasn't imagining her blush.

I rolled my eyes.

"You okay?" I asked, curious as to why she was in my room. She honestly couldn't be in here just because she was afraid of the storm... right?

She nodded, but otherwise remained silent, looking at her hands. I scratched the back of my head, not really sure of what to do at this point.

I was about to snap off a piece of a chocolate bar I retrieved from my nightstand when I noticed her gnawing on her knuckle. I was debating on whether or not to give her a square of mine (chocolate eases stress and calms nerves... Why else would I need it? My childhood, while there are kids who are worse by far, was just about as traumatizing as I can personally imagine...) when I remembered the box of white chocolate under my bed that Linda had given me the last time she had left Wammy's (she's old enough to come and go as she pleases) that I had tried but had just plain not liked it. At all.

"_I thought you might want to try something new,"_ she had said. I mean... it was sweet enough, that wasn't the problem. It just wasn't... I wasn't used to the taste, I guess. I suppose if that's _all_ I had, yeah, I would eat it.

Just tastes funny.

I turned to her, tapping her shoulder. When she looked up at me through her overly-wide blue eyes, I held up a finger and got off the bed, dropping onto my knees on the hardwood floor and pulling the box out, noticing with a small smirk she was interested.

"Here," I said, handing her a bar. "You can keep the whole box if you want. Not a big fan of white."

She looked at me funny, then accepted the bar. I don't know why, but the way she just _unwrapped_ the bar was awkward. I could tell she wasn't very comfortable. After a few minutes of us eating our varied chocolates in silence (aside from the thunder in the background) when she sighed, seeming to remember something. Bending down, she grabbed something fluffy and brown off the floor. I saw it was the teddy bear Near had given her. She sighed again, resting her chin on the head of the thing and snapping off a piece of her white chocolate bar. I noticed she wasn't flinching when the thunder came.

"Feel better?"

She nodded.

"Chocolate helps relax you. There's a very fancy word for 'feel good endorphin' somewhere around my head but I'm too tired to attempt to remember it," I grinned.

Giggling, she looked at the now empty wrapper. "Oh..." she said, as if just noticing something. "I guess I'll just.. leave, now..."

"You don't have too," I said, perhaps a little _too_ quickly. She looked at me, wide-eyed, and I realized how that had just sounded. "I mean, if-if you're still scared, I mean," I fixed my mistake.

She let out her breath, which I realized she had been holding, and I snapped off another final bite of chocolate as she silently debated. I stretched and flicked my wrapper onto the nightstand.

"Mello?" she asked. I nodded to show I had heard her. "Could... could I have another one?"

I blinked, then smirked.

"Sure. Careful though, I'm living proof that this stuff is dangerously addicting," I said as I handed her another one of the chocolates. "Not that there's anything wrong with being addicted. I remember from a report I wrote to give Roger several good reasons to let me keep eating it, and the one that convinced Roger was the fact that it actually does nothing to ruin my teeth," I said as she watched amused.

"Who knows," she said, "I might just fall in love with chocolate. Just like you have," she smiled, playing with the chocolate bar charm on her bracelet. _She sleeps with that on? _I wondered to myself. I wasn't surprised, really; I caught Matt asleep once with his goggles on.

I laughed. "Well, do what you want. I'm going back to sleep," I said as I lay back down, blowing my bangs out of my eyes. Just my luck, the one night I get smart and decide to beat the heat by taking off the quilt from my bed, and not wear a shirt to bed like the rest of the kids I know, it's freezing. Rain makes _everything_ colder.

She stood up, but hesitated. "Mello?"

"Hmm?"

"... You were kidding when you said I didn't have to go... right?"

I opened my eyes back up.

"... of course not, Eko."

"Huh..." she said, more to herself. I heard her walk across the room and I heard the doorknob turn.

I sighed, closing my eyes and rolling over into my pillow, shivering. I was just dozing off when I felt the bed behind me depress slightly. I opened my eyes, but didn't move.

I knew it was Eko as she lay there with her back to mine. I didn't say anything; not even when I heard her sniffling as if she had been crying a couple minutes earlier. I knew if I _did_ say anything, it would probably just result in her waving it off like it was nothing.

We fell asleep, just like that, her back to mine, touching.

… I didn't shiver anymore.

* * *

I don't know _why_ I was crying... I was just crying to cry, I guess. Cocoa, the poor bear, her head was soaked.

Oh my God, I was just personifying a teddy.

Wammy's has officially made me lose my mind.

It was just all so... _confusing_! Why didn't I want to leave Mello's room? At first I was hesitant to even _enter,_ but now, I felt like I would be torn apart by the storm more so than what I feared before if I _didn't_ stay.

But... maybe it wouldn't be the storm that tore me apart...

Sighing, I got up from my bed, rummaged through the pocket of the jacket I had hanging up behind the door, and pulled out my winnings from a bet with Font. Hmm... I wondered if this would be enough to get me back to Aldershot from Winchester...

_Why are you thinking of this?_ I warred with myself as I eyed a bar of the white chocolates Mello had given me.

Because I do not fit in here, I thought back. _But what about Mello and Near and Matt? Dare I think it, even Font? And Linda, and Roger? And..._

I completely shut down my thinking process as I unwrapped the tin foil, biting into it. I did _not_ want to think about what I was doing.

All I knew was I was homesick.

Walking down the hallway after I finished the chocolate bar, I paused once more by Mello's room. It wasn't storming anymore, so I didn't really have an _excuse..._ but _still..._

Wiping a tear from my eye, I walked back into his room, slowly walking to his bed. It was at that moment I realized I had left Cocoa back on my bed, but at the moment I didn't care.

As I lay there, next to Mello, warm despite the chill throughout the room, I didn't need a teddy bear.

I had Mello.

* * *

**A/N: AIYE DID THIS IN TWO DAYS! :DDDD**

… **oh crap, I just told all you guys I haven't even attempted writing before yesterday...**

**hehe ^^"**

**Anywho, hope you guys like it! And be on the lookout for any stories by the author TheTawnyColoredAbyssofDoom... that be my shared account with Abyssehness! ^^ we mainly write crackfics, and our first fic has something to do with Matt's excellent TV fixing skills, hehe ^^"""**

**Anyway.**

**HAHA Word thought TheTawnyColoredAbyssofDoom was Electroencephalographic, Multicolored or Underclassman XDDD**

**yeah... sorry XDDD**

**Short chappie, I know, a whole 4 pages XDDDX**

**But remember, I am now writing in rapid motion, so EXPECT MOAR CHAPPIES! 8D**


	14. Splinters

**L: Tawnyshine does not own Death Note or any of its characters, plotline, or-**

**Tawny: COME ON, L! You're being so MONOTONOUS! Put some FEELING into it!  
L:... -sigh- Tawnyshine owns nothing to do with Death Note except for her own plot. Yayyy. T_T**

**Tawny:...**

**L: Can I go now?**

**Tawny: No. Because until you do a very enthusiastic, very energetic disclaimer, you shall see NO MOAR SUGAR for the rest of you little anime-ass life :3**

**L: O_O" TAWNYSHINE-KUN DOESN'T OWN ANY OF US! ! ! :D BECAUSE IF SHE DID, I WOULDN'T BE A PANDA! ! ! AND IF SHE OWNED DEATH NOTE, THERE WOULD MORE THAN LIKELY BE A WARNING BEFORE EACH EPISODE THAT CLEARLY STATED THAT ANY YAOI FANFICS WILL BE BURNED. AND-**

**Tawny: … Uh, L...**

**L: AND SHE DOESN'T OWN PLOT EITHER. (sugar) SHE OWNS NOTHING! NOTHING I SAY! NOTHINGGGG! (sugarrrr)**

**Tawny: L! ! ! That's good!**

**L: SHE WANTS TO OWN MATT AND MELLO THOUGH. CAN'T SAY I'M TOO HAPPY ABOUT THAT BUT (sugarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) WE MUST SACRIFICE (SUGAAARRR) WHAT WE MUST. **

**Tawny: L. **

**L: What?**

**Tawny: -chunks peppermint at L's head- Knock yourself out. -mumbles about how L should have diabetes by now-**

**L: THANK YOU TAWNY-KUN~**

**Tawny: Oh, and by the way, I've never had to think of so many different ways to describe a splinter before...**

* * *

Chapter 14: Splinters

I woke up with a very stiff neck and the smell of white chocolate in my nose.

Oh yeah.

And Eko was still sleeping in my room.

Since it was about six thirty and it was Sunday, I'm was sure I was the only one up. Careful not to disturb her, I stood and made my way over to the door. I stretched, absent-mindedly noticing that she had changed from her PJ's to jeans and a jacket. I raised my eyebrow, walking back to my bed to sit down, remembering that she had been crying the night before. _What was wrong?_

A shiny thing caught my attention, poking out of her pocket. She wasn't under the sheets- she probably kicked them off in the night (my side _hurts_)- so of course I could see into her pockets. The shiny thing, which I now realized was a white chocolate bar wrapper, wasn't what continued to hold my attention. There was a folded up piece of paper, clipped with the end of a mechanical pencil so that it wouldn't come unfolded. I glanced at her face, reaching forward and tentatively getting hold of the corner of the page, slowly pulling it out. If she woke up at this moment, she'd probably get Linda, or possibly worse- _Cizia... shudder...- _to beat the shit out of me for looking at her stuff. Then again, she'd have to explain why she was sleeping in my room in the first place.

Upon pulling it out a little further, a wad of $20 bills came tumbling out of the pocket. I narrowed my eyes and just lifted the paper out, less cautious. I wanted to see what this was.

Looking down at the paper, I realized what it was. A letter. To Roger.

When students write letters to Roger, it's never good.

Ever.

I unfolded it, and grimaced when I saw that she had attempted to mark this out with a huge 'X' over the whole thing. That wouldn't stop me from reading it. _Roger,_ it began in Eko's scrawl, shakier than it should have been...

_I am so... so sorry. I like it here, I really really do... but I think that's the problem... I love all my friends here... I love the teachers, the classes, I love the idea of succeeding L... But I think I might-_

Something unintelligible was scribbled out, and I'm assuming her eraser was like... dead, or something. I stood up and walked over to the desk, putting the letter on it and standing there, reading.

_-think I might like somebody a little too much. I can't stay here. Every time I think about A dying, I think it's my fault. I know that Beyond wouldn't have killed A if I hadn't upset him that morning. I miss my brother. I miss my mum and dad. I miss my _friends._ I have money- you don't have to worry about me. I'll catch a train or something back to my town. I'm sorry._

_~Eko_

I stood there, reading the marked up letter again. It was crossed-out... does that mean she wasn't going to give it to Roger? And does that mean she wasn't going to go? And what about the whole yarn about her believing it was her fault BB killed A? Everybody knows it wasn't. I left the letter on the desk, and went over to sit on the bed again, grabbing a chocolate bar on my way over.

_'I think I might... like somebody a little too much...' _What did that _mean?_

I poked her shoulder. "Eko..."

Nothing.

A little less gentle, I shook her shoulder. "Eko!" she stirred, blinking and groggily looking up at me. "Morning," I greeted her. She blinked, yawned, and lay her head back down on my pillow. But just before she got her eyes closed, she sat up, blushing, hurriedly standing up and brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Eko, you're fine. I honestly believe you were _that _scared of the storm." Among other things. "I also trust that you weren't taking advantage of my trust, and with that, incident: over with and gone."

"... I... guess so..."

"... Storm's over."

"Uh, I'll just go, now..."  
She side-stepped to the door. Just as her hand turned the handle, I interrupted her.

"It's not your fault, you know."

She turned around, and the look in her eyes was deep... like she wasn't sure whether she was grateful for the reassurance or if she was pissed that I had looked around in a pocket that she was wearing. Either way, she rolled her eyes and disappeared through my door while I was left to brood.

* * *

… Really, Mello? Really?

I strode up to the brunette that was emerging from Mello's room. Who's face I saw... uncalled for.

"... _Eko? !"_

She cringed.

"What the fuck?"

"... It was stormy..." she tried to step around me.

"No," I stepped in front of her again. "Why were you in Mello's room?"

"Why are you up?" she side-stepped again.

"I'm always up at this time! Why are _you _up?" I followed her movement.

"Mello woke me up!" Side...

"Why were you in Mello's room in the first place?" … Step.

"_It was storming, and I was- _Oh!" her hand, which was on the banister of the stairs, was now brought to her mouth, for she was now bleeding profusely. "Great," she mumbled.

"Lemme see," I held my hand out for hers. She raised an eyebrow. "What? I've got more time in medical class than you do in breathing. Lemme see."

She looked me in the eye with a glare that _could _shatter bones, but I wasn't intimidated, because I knew she would let me heal that splinter.

…

It's how my mind works, mmkay?

I looked at her finger, which actually had a pretty big splinter in it. I moved my hand to pluck it out (it wasn't that _deep_, I could have easily just nabbed it right there) but she pulled her hand away, possibly getting that splinter forever lost in her finger unless we used tweezers. Or I just ripped it out with a needle, but that was painful.

On top of that, she flinched because (proving my theory!) it _did_ in fact go deeper into her finger. And I'll bet it hurt. I nodded my head as if to say _told you so_.

"... Fine. Get it out. But please don't make it hurt too bad!" she thrust her hand in my face and I had to step back to focus on it.

"That ba-" It was already swollen.

_Super_ swollen.

"... you're going to need some peroxide on that. What, are you like... infection prone or something?"

"I don't know!" she said exasperatedly, following me down the hall to one of the bathrooms. It was a staff bathroom, not one of those bathrooms for students that segregated the genders. Otherwise, how could I possibly get this out in the same room as her?

She hopped up onto the counter, leaning her arm on her leg, her hand outstretched so I could extract the offending wood. Buying her attention away from her hand, I decided to further press our previous conversation... subtly.

"So what's your reading on him?"  
"Excuse me?" she winced as I poked her finger with a peroxide-soaked cottonball.

"You know. What do you think of Mello?"

"... Well, he's optimistic."

I snorted. "Go on."

"He's definitely got a good sense of humor." I nodded, agreeing, letting her go on. "He's honest... smart..."

"Yeah, stop flattering him, get to the bad parts," I laughed.

"Well," she chuckled, "He's irresponsible. Careless, very careless... Unless it's competitive. Then it's life or death... OW! What the hell are you doing to my finger? ?"

* * *

"Ow!" I heard as I passed the door. I paused and backed up, listening for more. "Matt! That hurts! !"

…

Was that Eko's voice?

"It does not hurt."

"How would you know? It's in ME!"

"Look, do you want this thing out or not?"

"... well yes, but- OH dear God, don't do it _that way!"_

"Well, I have to, it's stu-"

"I don't care, do it some other way!"

By now, Font had been attracted from his room and was standing by me. I stepped a few inches away from him.

"This is perfect," he said. "Linda, go get Mello, I'm not missing this!" But Mello was already walking down the hall, and had stopped only to glare at Cizia, who had purposely bumped Near into him in order to get him to stop.

"If you touch me with that little creep again I'll-"

"MATT STOP!"  
"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I'm so proud of him," Font sniffed. I cuffed him behind the head. "What the hell?"

"Do _not _encourage this behavior!"

"No, just look, see, it's almost out. Just a little bit..."

"... wow. I've never had... one that big in me..."

Mello choked on his chocolate bar. "She's had more than one? _How old is she? !" _he whispered.

"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" the door opened, and a path opened up for them to walk through. Eko for some reason was sucking her finger. Matt froze. "... can I help you?"

Font walked up to him, clapping his hand on Matt's shoulder. "You did good buddy. I am _so... so _proud to call you my bestie-"

Matt held up a small, thin, long wooden splinter.

"... Disownage," Font turned on his heel and walked away.

"... what?" Matt, stupidly clueless, had _no idea. _I sighed, scooping Matt up in a hug. "Seriously, what the fucking hell?"

"It's not important now, Matt," I said, just glad he wasn't a rapist.

Mello, on the other hand...

"You scared me!" he accused, gripping Eko's shoulders. I stifled a chuckle.

"... W-whadaya mean?"

"... Never... mind..." he released his grip on her shoulders and walked away, leaving Near (looking petrified by the way), Zuzu, Matt, Eko and I in the hall.

"Well... I've got homework to do, and Near can come with me~" Zuzu declared, dragging Near practically down the stairs by the neck. I shuffled away, not really wanting to be the one to explain.

"... what?" I heard Matt say yet again.

* * *

**A/N: I do hope this makes up for the missingness that ensued when I was gone.**

**AIYE LOFF CHU AWLL~~**


	15. Interception

**A/N: **

**Tawny: Yeahh... you guys are more than likely going to either get spammed with my posts in your emails or at least get a weekly update. I'm thinking Tuesdays or Wednesday?**

**Matt: She means review people. **

**Tawny: Yeah! I NEED TO KNOWWW what you guys are thinkingggg~**

**Matt: So just basically add in your review what day of the week would be convenient for YOU guys to read her FF's.**

**Tawny: AANND...?**

**Matt: … ohyea! And Tawny doesn't own Death Note, the plot, or any of the characters~**

**Zuzu: Tawny-kun only owns her OC's, like me, Jerk-sama, and Eko =3**

**Tawny: Oh dear Kira, I love writing Fanfiction. It gives me a good excuse to re-watch the series again x3 Also, for your questions, yeah, the ICPO meeting was supposed to be December 4th and the first time L meets the task force was supposed to be January 1st (the day Naomi Misora dies...) but I had to make it a bit AU for Eko's birthday. It was important, believe it or not! **

**Matt: You're ranting again T_T**

**Tawny: … sorryyyy... Also, as requested by One Hell of a Stalker, I'll now be announcing POV's.**

**Moony: RANDOM APPEARANCE FTW~~~~**

Chapter 15: Interception

~*Near's POV*~

I sighed, bored as I placed another piece upon the black and white chess board. Linda wouldn't play with me like she usually did, she was busy cooking. I was playing alone.

Unless...

Unless Eko would play with me? I looked up from the chess board, scanning the room for Eko. She used to come here all the time for her break. But lately she was spending more time with Matt and Mello. Not that I had any qualms with that, I could honestly care less who she palled with. My concern was that she wasn't there to protect me from-

"NEARRR!"

… Cizia.

"Please go away, Cizia-san."  
"Near, why don't you call me Zuzu?"

"Why don't you add a suffix to my name?" Everybody with a Japanese descent here knew that if you didn't add a suffix to the end of somebody's name, it was either out of disrespect or informality.

"Because I know you too well," was her simple answer.

"... we've known each other for several weeks, Ci-" she glared at me. "... Zuzu... san..."

"I know!" she said, sitting by me. "But I honestly think I could be your friend, if you let me, Near," she looked at me. I was shocked to see she was almost to the point of tears, despite her cheery tone of voice. "Please?" she whispered.

"..." I said nothing.

"... Near, please... I'm lonely." She looked down, her cat ear headband giving her the air of a kicked puppy.

I didn't think she noticed me resetting the board.

"Your move," I said.

[line here]

~*Mello's POV*~

Matt lay on the ground across from us, playing his Nintendo yet somehow paying attention to the conversation. Eko was leaning against my back, drawing circles in the dirt with her finger while we joked about Roger probably having brothers from the early 1600's.

I seriously wouldn't doubt that.

"Hey, Mels," Matt looked up from the game- Pokemon, it sounded like- he was holding, "you know what just occurred to me?"

"What?" I asked, tearing off a chunk of chocolate.

"You know how you hate Near?"

I nodded.

"... Eko's ranked higher than Near, she's been for a while."

Behind me, I felt Eko stiffen. "It doesn't matter," she cut in, "we're friends."

I raised my eyebrow. "... I... hadn't thought of that..."

"It's not going to effect our friendship, though, right?" I heard her say. "... right?"

"That's stupid," Matt said, "he knew you were number one before, it shouldn't change now-" he stopped abruptly, looking behind Eko and I. "... M-Mr. Wammy?"

My eyes widened, and though Eko knew not who he was, I had a feeling she could sense how important he was, because her breathing caught.

I turned my head to see a tall man in a dark coat, holding in his hand a rather large, floppy hat. He was wearing half spectacles, and behind me, I heard Matt scramble to a sitting position as_ he_ held his hand out- for Eko.

I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. She was looking up at him with wide eyes, her mouth open as if she were about to say something. His hand twitched impatiently. She looked at me.

"Who's he?" she whispered.

"It's okay," he said, smiling warmly, "You're not leaving forever."

Eko swallowed, tentatively raising her hand, then looking back at me for whatever reason.

"It's okay," Mr. Wammy encouraged, "come on." She placed her hand in his and he helped her to her feet, but immediately began walking off with her. Eko stumbled behind him, her hand still in his. She looked behind her shoulder, nearly tripping, and Matt and I just sat there.

Mr. Wammy opened the door to a limousine and she cautiously climbed in. About half a minute later, she was gone.

"... did that really just happen?" Matt asked, now beside me. I said nothing.

[line here]

~*Eko's POV*~

I had _no idea_ what was going on.

Sitting here in the back of a stranger's limo, leaving Matt and Mello behind, I stared out the window (even though it was tinted so darkly I couldn't see anything) and attempted to understand my predicament. What had Matt called him?

"Uhm... Mr... Mr. Wammy?" I asked.

"Yes, child?"

"... Do you mind me asking where you're taking me?"

"Ah. I assumed you would want to know. I'm thanking my lucky stars you didn't ask in front of Mello. I'm assuming you two are on good terms?"  
"Yeah, why?"

"Because if I told you that you were going to work side by side with L, that boy would either have a temper tantrum or have both of our heads. Possibly both. Do you have any more questions?"

I shook my head.

"Good. Then I'm guessing you'll have no objections to this, then?" he pressed a button on the fancy dashboard and a portable TV unfolded from the ceiling. I blinked, waiting for something like an editorial or a television broadcast to show up. But instead, there was a picture of an elegant L in old London font.

"Hello, Eko."

We pulled up to something that looked like a hotel. It was the next morning, for we had taken a small plane and resumed driving in a separate limo. I was just waking up as the car slowed to a stop. Raising my head, I anticipated stretching my legs as Mr. Wammy- he insisted for me to call him Watari- came over to open the door for me. I stepped out and looked up, gaping at the towering- well, tower. I suppose, since we were now in Japan, this was normal. But I had _never_ seen anything this big in my life! I felt Watari's hand on my shoulder as he steered me to the door. I closed my eyes and smiled as I felt the blast of warm air hit my face as we entered. It was chilly outside.

"Now listen to me," Watari whispered urgently, "Your name is Elise Wammy. I am your grandfather, and if anybody sees L with us- he might on rare occasions step out with us- he is your uncle. Your parents died in a car crash four and a half years ago and you are living with me. Also, you are to refer to L as 'Ryuzaki'. Any questions?"

I started to shake my head, but paused. "If anybody asks... why is L- err, Ryuzaki, staying with y- us?"

"Ah, that's actually a good question..." he narrowed his eyes in thought. "Tell you what, he's here on vacation and he lives in Winchester, where you come from. Sound good?" This time I nodded without hesitation. "Good. Now come on," he said, turning and striding toward the counter. He didn't hold my hand, but I think by now he knew me enough to know I wouldn't run away. And I wouldn't! I strolled at a leisurely pace behind him, pretending this were something that would be completely normal. And it was. Given the circumstances.

I sat down in one of the chairs while Watari settled something with the clerk. I stretched in thought.

Did Matt and Mello know why I was gone? What if, by the time I got back, Mello had grown to resent me? Would Near still remember me? What about Zuzu? Dare I say it... Font?

I closed my eyes, my world spinning around me. If I had the chance to start over, to say I didn't know any of these people... I wouldn't take it. They say, if you hold something dear, try to imagine your world without them. If it's better, the world you live in now is obsession. If it's worse, you're doing _something_ right.

"Elise," I heard Watari say, so I hopped up and jogged over to him as he pulled out a cell phone. "Ryuzaki," he said, "I'm in the lobby with E." I could barely make out a voice on the other line, saying something like 'understood'.

Suddenly, as Watari drew a key out of his pocket and handed it to me, telling me that this was my copy for the time being, the impact of who I was about to meet set in.

This was L.

This was the super genius spy that everybody at Wammy's was craving attention from.

This was James Bond, only younger and hotter, with epic sunglasses.

… This was who I was next in line to be.

We took an elevator up, and I believe we were on the tenth floor, when Watari told me to wait outside. He went inside a room, and I caught a glimpse of a circle of men sitting around the table. I was to the point of hyperventilation. _One of these men... one of them is L._

I sunk down along a wall opposite the door Watari disappeared behind. I heard the doorknob jiggle, but I didn't have time to stand up before a raven headed- boy, really- poked his head out, looking around. His eyes stopped on me, and I saw that they were a dark brown.

"Um... Hi, there," he said. "Are you...?"

"I'm E, yeah," I confirmed. "And you must be... Ryuzaki, right?" I asked, a little put off that he was this unprofessional.

"Oh, no!" he quickly said, "Though I'm honored you would think that, really, there's no way I'm even close to being L, and... err, anyway, that's your job, heheh," he said scratching the back of his head. Then he stood there for a while, then he opened the door with a jolt as if he forgot something. "Ryuzaki's actually the one who wanted me to come out and get you," he said, holding it open for me. More awkward silence as I sat there and he stood there. "Well... come on," he said, and I stood up, brushing my jacket down. I walked through the door, looking around and giving a little jump as the boy shut the door behind me. "Sorry," he whispered to me as he walked ahead of me and sat down on a couch next to an older man with graying hair and glasses. I took this opportunity to analyze everybody there, just standing there.

On the far side of the room, there was a man with sallow cheeks and short brown hair, looking as if he was suffering from high blood pressure, or _something_. His whole demeanor reminded me of a chihuahua that had been given calm down meds, it just didn't work. To his right was a man with an Afro, but his back was to me and I couldn't see his face. He had a very stern air about him. Across from him was a heavyset man with calm gentle eyes and a square chin. He reminded me of my cousin for some reason. Next to him was the boy who had let me in- looking even more childish next to the older man sitting on the couch.

And right there, in front of them all, next to Watari...

Was Beyond Birthday.

My breathing grew shallow, and I took a step back. At my sides, my hands clenched.

"Everybody," B said, "This is Eko. I do not require you to call her by her other alias, Elise, while we are in this room, but only in public, whereas I'm quite sure Eko isn't a common name." He then looked directly at me, his black eyes boring down into mine. "Eko-kun, are you alright?" How dare he call me by the suffix -kun! "You look pale, I'd even venture as far as to call you sickly."

I turned my head toward Watari, betrayal flat on my face, backing away still. "I refuse to work with him," I said, a bit shaky.

"Oh, dear," Beyond said, setting down a cup of what seemed to be tea. "Watari, this is what we anticipated, is it not?"

"I thought she would at least give us time to explain," the elderly man shrugged.

"Explain what?" I spat. I turned to the men. "Do you know who you're working with? This man's a murderer!" They all gave a little start, looking around at each other, as confused as I was terrified. BB stood up, hiking his jeans up and started to walk my way. I could back up no further; I was cornered.  
"Get away from me," I said quietly, but he continued to approach me. "Get away!" I tried to hit him with my right hand while shielding my face from the knife I knew he had with my left, but he grabbed it.

"Watari," he said.

"I'm on it, sir."

"Help!" I shrieked, begging with my eyes for one of the men to help me- any of them. The old one, the stern Afro-man, the young boy, _anyone_. "Get away, get away, get away! Leave me alone!" I tried to kick him, but a firm hand caught my ankle. I looked over my shoulder- BB had my right hand and I had kicked with my left, forcing my body to be painfully twisted, and now, suspended in midair- to see Watari had a firm grip on my leg. I knew Beyond would try to finish what he started, but I never anticipated it would be this soon._ I should have left when I had the chance_, I thought, _I should have left Wammy's..._

Meanwhile, the men just sat there, dumbstruck, around the table. I couldn't believe it. Here I was, fighting for my life, and... they were just sitting there. Watching me die.

I hung my head in defeat, staring at Beyond Birthday right in the eye. Something was different. Something was wrong. This wasn't like him. By now he would be smiling sadistically, but in his eyes were worry and something else.

… Was that fear?

"Shhh..." if I was quiet, I could barely hear this escaping his lips. "It's okay. I'm not Beyond Birthday." I said nothing, but at the name... _his_ name, I attempted to punch the air in front of his face, but he was too strong, and my fist ended up just bouncing back where it originally was. "It's okay," he whispered again, slightly louder. I let my head drop, my fist slowly loosening, my struggles coming slower and less frequently. Watari let me slip gently to the ground, and the man who I previously thought was Beyond let my wrist go. I sat there on the ground, staring at the bruise I knew would form but hadn't yet.

"... then who are you?" I said after a moment of silence.

"I am L."


	16. Oxygen

**A/N**

**Tawny: INTERNET. GONEEEEEE.**

**Matt: NINTENDO. GONEEEEE.**

**Eko: WAMMY'S. FAR AWAYYYYY.**

**Roger: KIDS. BUGGING MEEEEEE.**

**L: CANDY. RIGHT HERE :D**

**Mello: CHOCOLATE~ HOW I LOVE HALLOWEEN~**

**Near: T_T All rights to own Death Note: Out of Tawny-kun's possession.**

**Zuzu: RAUR! (=^..^=)**

**All: . . .**

**L: SUGARRrrrrrrr.**

**Matt: EWWW L'S PURRING O.O TAWNY MAKE IT STOPPP~**

**Tawny: -snaps fingers-**

**L: -duct tape appears over his mouth- TxT**

**Tawny: Haha. :P Anyway. To make up for my lack of interwebular use, I've already written about three or so chapters- LONG chapters- that should be enough to keep you busy while I figure out HTF I'm going to make my Rebirth plot go in the direction I want it. Ash, Abyss, Moony, I may need your help for this, so be prepared. Be very prepared =:D Oh, and thank you Near.**

**Near: Well who else would have done the disclaimer? You were all having seizures.**

**Mello: And you didn't call 911... why?  
Tawny: T_T**

* * *

Chapter 16: Oxygen

~*Eko's POV*~

The next few hours before I decided to go to bed went by numbly. I didn't really hear/care what Watari said as he passed belts around. I understood that if I was in trouble, I pressed the center button on the belt twice and Watari would call me on a cell phone that he had given me earlier. I decided to chuckle rather than glare when the boy who had answered- Matsuda, as he had said to call him- did a sort of dance as he fitted his on, and felt like slapping Soichiro and holding Matsuda like a kicked puppy when Soichiro snapped at him. But most of all, what really shocked me, I refused to sit on L's right side, as he had offered. Instead, I sat between Soichiro Yagami- the chief of the Task Force-and the heavyset man, who I now recognized as Kanzo Mogi. I could now tell you basically everything you need to know about the Task Force.

Shuichi Aizawa, Afro-man, was, in fact, the grumpy one. But that was just a front to intimidate anyone who he honestly didn't want to make contact with. He gave a small smile when I introduced myself, but he quickly checked himself. I personally thought this was wise; it's better to not know somebody at all, and then slowly build up a friendship, than automatically assume that you'd get along great. That way, you're not biased or anything. But then again, what do I know? I'm only eleven.

_An eleven year old successor to the smartest man on Earth,_ I silently chided myself.

But Matsuda, on the other hand...

Touta Matsuda jumped into everything with a little too much enthusiasm for my taste. Don't get me wrong, we'd get along great, I'm sure- but I do hope you don't think less of me if I say... He's a complete retard. In an adorable sort of way.

Hirokazu Ukita was a very high-strung man. I could _feel _the _energy_ just... bouncing off him in waves. But contrary to what I had thought earlier, this energy wasn't a usual thing for him... he _was_ bold though. I guessed the extra energy today was due to meeting L. And I admit myself; the thought that I was now being asked to sit in the same room as L... to _aid_ L... it was pretty heady.

Kanzo Mogi, the man that I knew partially more than the rest, because we actually had small a conversation, I came to understand as nothing more than a big teddy bear. He was a little impulsive, but nowhere near as bad as Matsu.

Soichiro Yagami... he had the fatherly air that Roger had given me. I wondered if he actually had kids, because he seemed very tolerant to me. He actually didn't seem surprised at all when I refused to sit by L. I wondered if the members of the task force could read me just as easily as I had read them...

Oh, sigh. I was still very cautious when working with L. Why would he choose to have me

work with him... now? Why _now? _Surely he can't be _that_ stumped, to have to have six people and Watari- he doesn't count... he's always with L, I assume- help him on _one_ case, can he?

_Naw,_ I thought as L continued to speak to the Task Force, _there's gotta be several things going on at once. I don't know hardly anything about the guy, but from what Matt and Mello have told me, plus everything Linda tells all of us, and watching little broadcasts about things L does that Roger lets us watch, he's on top of things._

Which is why I was completely unprepared when Watari called me aside and told me about what we were investigating.

"You seemed a bit dazed. Do you have any idea _what_ you've been called in for?"

I dully shook my head.

"Well then. Do you remember, not that long ago, when Lind L. Taylor was killed on a live broadcast? You must've saw it... I know Matt would have pulled it u-"

"You mean you saw the footage on the security cameras of us watching it. Yes, I remember. What of..." I didn't finish. "This isn't the Kira case, is it?"

"It is," he gave a solemn smile. "And I'm afraid you can't go back to Wammy's until the investigation is either over or Ryuzaki no longer needs your help."

"Why not?" I asked. "Ryuzaki keeps telling the Task Force, over and over again, to rethink the fact that their lives are on the line, and that they can leave at _any time_!"

He waited for me to stop breathing angrily to answer. "Because if Ryuzaki dies on the case, _you_ are to take over." It was silent. I just stared at him.

"... so does that mean that Ryuzaki _really... really_ needs help this time, Watari...?" I whispered. He didn't answer, but instead patted my shoulder.

"Come on. You're tired. Roger's sent your bags... Ryuzaki's arranged for you to have your own hotel room." As if to back him up, my traitor body decided to yawn. I stared bitterly at the floor. Why me? I just wanted to go back to Wammy's, let Near come and be L's- no, I don't want to think of this quirky person as my idol... not yet, anyway- Ryuzaki's guinea pig. It seemed like I was the _only_ person, besides Matt, who didn't _try_ to be the best. Sure, they put a test in front of me, I won't stare at it like blind person. I'll fill it out as best as I can, but that's just my personality. I don't like being outdone... when I try.

But I just randomly- it seemed- got placed in first. I knew Near was smarter than me by far, because he cared about grades... I didn't really _wanna_ be first. He... Well, I don't know. It's hard to see the mind that lies beneath all that snowy hair.

… No... He didn't...

I now sat on the bed that was in my hotel room, going through my bag. The door was shut, and the closest person to me was some random spokesperson on SakuraTV from when I gave up on flipping through channels, and was too lazy to turn the TV off. Plus, the noise was good. If it was completely silent, it would just feel awkward, even though I was alone. I was grinning.

He did.

Mello- I don't know how he did it- had managed to sneak about fifteen or so bars of white chocolate in side pockets past Roger. I honestly didn't want to know how he had gotten a hold of my bag. Or if he had Matt do it. Hell, he could have convinced Linda to do it in exchange for laying off Near for a while. I don't know. But I sank into the bed with a chocolate bar and turned the TV off. Watari was right. I was beat, and I would be able to think clearer in the morning.

~*Mello's POV*~

I sat at a desk in class, distractedly clicking a pen with my right hand and resting my face on my left fist. The desks were arranged in a square around the room so we could have a clear view of the teacher- a sub that I didn't care to learn his name- and I sat directly across from Matt. It was a wonder the teacher didn't notice he was on his Nintendo. I could hear the buttons clicking from here. Then again, this was a substitute. Most kids have learned by now, if they're not here regularly, we're having an assignment that's not due the next day and they're just talking to get paid for the day. They honestly don't care what we do.

Really.

Which was good. Because I needed today to think. About what Matt had said yesterday.

… Why didn't I hate Eko? Probably because we were friends before Eko was number one. But wouldn't I feel a little betrayed, just a little, if Matt had zoomed ahead of me as fast as she did? And why didn't Near- or A or B, for that matter, before A died and B left- ever get called away on cases? Did that make Eko smarter than them? That mean's she's smarter than I am, but then again, that means nothing. I _know_ I'm smarter than Sheep, and look where _he's _at.

I glanced up at Matt. He wasn't entirely absorbed in that game of his; his thoughts were probably along the lines mine were. But the same thought kept nagging me: _Why didn't I answer when Eko asked if her rank didn't affect our friendship?_ I knew we'd always be like brother and sister. But...

"... Mello... _MELLO!"_ I looked up to see the sub staring right at me. "Well?"

"Uhh..." I looked past him at Matt, who was frantically mouthing something. Took me a while, but I finally got it.

"Uh, Ben Franklin?"

"... yes, well..." he clearly looked dejected from being tricked out of humiliating me. I sent a silent glance of thanks to Matt, who still hadn't had his Nintendo confiscated.

When the bell finally rang, Matt and I were like the third and fourth people to shoot out the door. It was break... _finally_. I needed to just get away... claustrophobia was finally getting to me after so many years of this, even though Font said he had gotten it the third week of him being here. I guess it's because I basically grew up here. But it was like I couldn't get away... couldn't just _go home_ like most kids could when class was over. No, you couldn't escape this hell. You wake up, you go down the hall, you eat breakfast, you climb some stairs, you spend a couple hours listening to people preach math and the law to you, you go down stairs, eat lunch, back upstairs, more preaching, you get to go outside to sit on some benches, maybe read a book, go eat dinner, then maybe a bit more outside time before you go right to bed. Same pattern. Over. And over. And _over_ again. I was suffocating... I couldn't breathe... couldn't get enough clean oxygen in to work properly.

I was sick of it.

Even the weekends were dull; sure, you could go on short little trips around the neighborhood, maybe buy some stuff, but there was always curfew. Always the rush to _get done before L gets frustrated because he can't stalk you through the orphanage's cameras, _to_ get back to the orphanage before seven thirty because that's when it gets dark,_ to _obey Roger so you don't get penalized and pushed down a few ranks, _to _**keep rank!**_ I was _so sick of it! _It was like there was nowhere in the world they thought we wanted to go. What if I didn't want to stay in Britain, huh? What if I wanted to go see what was up in Canada? Not that I did, but still. They keep us so sheltered, yet they expect us to understand the world perfectly. I didn't get-

"What you thinking about?" Matt asked, warily interrupting my thoughts. "You're planning something. I know you." I stared at him, not in the mood to talk, really. "... I won't get involved, but... yeah. Don't involve me... Just don't get yourself killed, kay?" he said.

". . ."

"What?"  
"... Nothing. It's Friday... you wanna go and see if they have anything new on display or something?"  
"Where?"

"Oi, I don't know, I don't care, I just gotta get out."

"Alright," he shrugged as I led him out the door. He must have had cabin fever too, because he left his Nintendo in his room without complaint, for once.

The second we got out of sight of Wammy's, he dropped to the ground, digging in his hoodie for something. I raised my eyebrow. He looked up at me through his goggles, placing a cigarette between his lips and lighting it.

"What?"  
". . . You smoke?"  
"... yeahhh..."

"I've never seen you smoke... and you're like thirteen."

"... Roger said I couldn't smoke... Well, technically, he said _if he ever saw me smoking, he would permanently keep me from succeeding L. _So I'm not smoking in his presence."

". . ."

~*Matt's POV*~

I must say, today was a great day.

…

You know, aside from the fact that the whole orphanage was in shock because Eko was gone.

…

And the fact that I'm pretty sure that was why Mello was still fuming. Or maybe he was just plotting something. With him, it's hard to tell. I just knew he was planning something. So I guess that's why I wasn't _that_ surprised when he took control of the situation.

… but it felt _so damn good_ to stretch my legs.

We got some coffee (or I did... he had a chocolate mocha), and then stopped to watch the ducks fight over some bread on the side of the road. It was entertaining... for the five minutes it took the smaller one to win. Which is precisely why I stand by my word that the more obese people don't stand a chance against us runts.

…

Unless it's Sumo Wrestling. Then we're dead. But_ this_ was fighting over bread, and _they _were ducks, and... ah_ forget it._

"Mels," I said, checking the time on a phone that didn't get service where we were at... well, now that I think of it, I think it only gets service in certain parts of America... odd. "I think it's about time we go back. It's 6:30."

"... alright..." he said. I did _not_ like the tone of voice he used.

"Uh, remember what I said about keeping me out of it, whatever you're planning?"  
"Mhm."

"... _now would be a really good time to tell me if you're planning something so I can go home and not die please."_

"Okay," he sighed. "Come on. I know a shortcut back to Wammy's."

I eyed him, but I had to trust him. He had taken me to a part of town that I was completely unfamiliar with.

I fished in my pocket for another cigarette, lighting it and taking a drag. Mello looked at me funnily, like he had every time I took a puff.

"... Please don't eyeball me like that. Please. It's kinda creeperish."

He reached out and did something unheard of. "You," he said, plucking my cigarette from my mouth, "are too young to smoke. Friends don't let friends get cancer before they're twenty one."

"... Do I _look_ like I care?"

He held his arm out to his side, holding my cigarette between his first finger and thumb. It was still lit, and I thought it was a wonder the wind hadn't put it out.

"... oh God please don't."

He waved it over the road, and then dropped it, proceeding to step on it.

"What the Hell was that for?"

"I said I wouldn't let you get cancer at age thirteen. I meant it."

"... Mello, you're seriously starting to tick me off. What if I said friends don't let friends get diabetes at age any?" I said. He twitched his eye.

"You didn't."

"I did."

We stared.

I got bored.

"Fine," I said, pulling another one out and lighting it. "You forgot the rest, genius." _Puff._

"Hmph." he flicked it out of my mouth this time.

"The fuck? !" It landed in the grass before slowly burning out. "You could have started a fire, dumbass!"

"You forgot the rest, genius," he mocked. "Ha. You forgot I have a hand."

"That could _so_ be twi-"

"Twist my words, I'll twist your_ neck_."

". . ."

"Good." He simply turned and walked away at a leisurely pace, as if nothing were wrong. I decided it would be best if I didn't waste my last pack on Mello's slap-happy mood today.

We walked for a while. And a longer while. And finally it was dark.

"... Mello... Mello. Mello. Mello, Mello, Mello, ME-"

"What?"

"It's 7:56."

"Your point?"

"We should have been home about an hour ago."

"... So?"

"... _Roger's going to have our heads because _you_ decided to take me on a shortcut._"

"No, he won't."

". . ."

"Seriously, he won't. He _can't_."

"I didn't mean literally, asshole!"

"No, I mean, he can't get us in trouble if we don't go back."

"... you're kidding?" I hoped. "Mello, you don't know what your sayi-"

"There it is," he said, taking my arm and leading me to a small Harley store.

"... You don't know what you're saying!" I said as he dragged me through the doors. "Mello, you're stressed, and maybe a little bit angry..." He was completely blowing me off as he was basically using the front counter as a drum set until somebody came in to see what the noise was about. "You've worked your whole life to get close to beating Near... I won't let you just... give up! What the Hell are you thinking?"

The clerk looked Mello over. He was tall, I'll give him that, but there's no way Mello looked old enough to have his license. Which is exactly what the guy asked for as he held his hand out to Mello.

"... I don't have one. But I have this..." he slid about four hundred dollars worth of 20's toward the clerk. Sadly, this much money was actually not that much. Not to us, who had grown up on L's seed money. Twenty thousand was more like your average two hundred. Which made four hundred dollars into about forty to us.

The clerk was speechless. He picked the wad up and thumbed through it.

"Where'd a kid like you get six big ones?" Okay so I miscalculated.

"We have our ways. Can I get a bike or what?"

"Do you both want one?" he asked.

"Mello, _no._"

He sent a passive glance my way. "Naw, just me."

"... fine, ignore your buddy. It's not my fault if you don't get to succeed L-" I looked at the clerk- "Ell... Eliot." The man, still reveling in the money, seemed not to have noticed my screw up.

"_Do. I. Look. Like. I. Care_?" he turned to me and slowly enunciated each syllable, quoting me but somehow putting a little more venom into the words, along with the added stress level that he had, it made him sound hysterical. He turned back to the clerk, and I decided to be quiet. "Could you hurry and tell me if that's enough?"

The clerk's eyes flashed greedily. "How much more do you have?" I didn't want Mello letting himself get walked on like this. This is when I stepped in and actually used a death glare.

"We don't have anything else you can have," I said slowly, but menacing enough for his attention to be drawn to me once. "Unless you want a half pack of cigarettes and a few chocolate bars." We stared at each other, and the man turned to pull his wallet out and put the money in it.

"Go take your pick, and come get me when you need the keys," he said dismissively and disappeared into a back room.

I turned to my left, where Mello was standing, but he was just.. gone. "Hey...!" I looked around, a little bit worried he had left me to get lost. But he was standing outside, cracking into a chocolate bar and looking at the motorcycles that were on display in the lot.

"Mello," I called, jogging up to him. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Stay here," he said, walking back to the store and coming back out several minutes later. I stood up, for I had gotten bored and decided to sit on the concrete, and waited for him to get closer.

"Well?" I asked.

"Well what?"

"Don't 'well what' me!"

He sighed. "What do you think? Now hop on," he said, settling himself in the seat and turning the key.

"... No."

"... Excuse me?"

"There's not a side car, and I'm not going to basically straddle you on the way to wherever you're going. I know how passengers ride motorcycles."

"... You do know you can just grab my shoulders, right?"

"That's unsafe, and my legs will still be around your wa-"

"No, there are footrests in the back. See?" he said, moving his foot behind him to indicate said footrests.

". . ."

"Look, do you want your Chevelle or what?"

"... what do you mean?"  
"I mean, I know how much time you spent on rebuilding that car."

"You'd go back to Wammy's to get a car from the 1970's?" I asked incredulously. I was sure this was just a scheme to get me to go along with him.

"You'd stay up four hours past curfew to help me find a chocolate store, remember?"

"... well I was stupid when I was eight," I said, still unsure.

"..."

"Fine," I said, awkwardly straddling the motorcycle. I gave a jolt when the motor started up. It was loud, and there was less of the actual bike separating me from the engine than I would have preferred, but at least it was a machine that ran on gas. Thankful for the backrest, I leaned back and looked up at the sky, since that was really the only way to look if you didn't want a bug in your mouth. So he gets a fancy backrest and footrests in the back but no windshield? I really didn't get this guy, and had a feeling I never would. I pulled a cigarette out, since there was no way he could flick it out, and used his back to shield it from the wind as I waited for Wammy's to pull back into sight, which didn't take as long as I thought it did. Must have been because we weren't on foot.

He cut the gas before we got too close, because he knew if anybody heard the engine, everybody'd be on red alert. Nobody was supposed to know where Wammy's House was, and if an engine was heard, the whole orphanage would automatically assume it's somebody who wanted to take the world's genii for the FBI's personal secret weapons or something. Which I thought was stupid. L was in charge of the feds, American FBI or no.

"Alright," he said. "There's no way we can get around the sound of that engine starting up."

"Or the sound of the garage door to the shed opening," I reminded him. Roger, deeming me too young to drive, had locked the poor Chevy up in the shed. "We'll have to find someway to get through that..."

"Do you trust me?"

"... depends..."

"You're gonna have to bust through the do-"

"No."

"Bu-"

"I'll ruin the paint job. No. I'll just have to pry it open. Don't worry, I have an idea."

"..." he sighed. "Just try not to get caught. I don't feel like getting lectured by L any time soon."

"Don't worry," I said weightlessly. "I've got a plan."

I simply strolled through the front door.

Nobody gave me a glance.

Why?

Because had thought to take my goggles off, something that only Font does when he imitates me. So I stood outside Roger's office. Relaxed, of course. If I acted like something was wrong until the planned moment, all would be lost. Standing there, I practiced Font's natural voice, the one he used when he wasn't imitating anybody, and worked on stressing it out, then whispering it. Cracking my knuckles, I walked into his office, hoping he was there.

He was.

"... Roger?" I asked, making my voice about a half-note higher to match Font's.

He looked up. "Yes, Font?" It worked~

"Just a quick question, then I'll leave you alone," I said, taking note of his exasperated tone.

"_Another one?_" Whoops. Hadn't stopped to think Font might have already asked about me and Mels. Oh well.

"Uh, yeah... You do know Eko's an asthmatic, right?" He paused, his hand freezing before it got the chance to turn the page in his book.

"... How would you know?"

"She told me."

"... What brought this up in conversation?"

"Actually I overheard a convo she had with Near about it. She was talking about how she didn't have her inhaler with her." Shooting in the dark, because I had no idea if this was true.

He looked at me, a touch of panic in his eyes. "Why wouldn't she tell me?" She seriously didn't tell Roger?

"Maybe because she didn't wanna worry you."

"... did she say anything about bringing an inhaler to Wammy's?"

"I think she said she left it 'in the car', whatever that means. Didn't she hijack a car that Matt stole?"

"... Yes." He sighed heavily. "She hid in the back." He leaned back in his chair, covering his face momentarily with his hands. When he sat back up, I was still waiting for a response. "She must have left the inhaler in the back seat of his car. I'll go and see..." he said, opening a drawer and pulling out a very familiar set of keys with an opaque-ish red 'M2' attached to the ring. _My _set of keys.

"You sure?" I asked.

He looked at me, dumbstruck. "Font, she's eleven, in Japan, and without an inhaler. I'm quite sure."

"No, I mean, it's cold out. I could go get it."

"... Why don't I trust you?"

"Please? I've never seen the inside of a Chevy. Well," I amended, "One from before 1997."

"How do you know it's from before '97?"

"Matt said it was a '70 Chevelle."

"..."

"With butt warmers!"

"... those are...?"

"Heaters under the seat," I laughed. "Please?" _Please work, please work, please work..._

"... Fine. Here," he said, handing my keys to me. "I expect you back, with or without an inhaler, in fifteen minutes. Hurry along now."

"Thanks, Roger! If you were about fifty years younger, had breasts, longer, more colorful hair, and were female, I'd kiss you!" I ran out, leaving him twitching, and out the front door.

… That felt good, fucking with Roger's mind like that. Font had all the fun.

About two minutes later, I was in the shed through the back door, and had the garage door up. _That was easy,_ I scoffed. _He didn't even bother to lock the garage door on the inside._ I unlocked my door, pulling my goggles out of my back pocket and putting them on. I resisted the urge to get lost in the car, just breathing in the smell of the very-much-missed leather, but instead I just started the engine. I slowly pulled out of the shed, watching as slowly, the lights in the upper part of the building slowly turned on... one on the third floor, then three on the second, then two on the fourth... Finally, the front door was opened, and I had the satisfaction of seeing Roger's enraged face as I peeled out of the small land that Wammy's called it's own. Maneuvering through the trees, I caught Mello off guard as I zoomed past him.

"COME ON!" I shouted, grinning ear to ear, looking behind me at Mello, who had started to look apprehensive at the time I had spent inside. He was soon following after me.

When we had decided we were far enough away from Wammy's, we both slowed and finally stopped. I rolled down my window as he pulled up to it.

"I can't help but think of all those movies where the hero has the car and the sidekick has the motorcycle."

"... like what?"

"Oh... hnn, Batman and Robin for one."

"But the Bat-mobile was Batman's signature vehicle!"

"As was Robin's motorcycle _his _signature vehicle."

". . . Matt, we both know _you _are the sidekick in this situation, and if you attempt to make yourself look anything more than that, you'll be on the ground looking up."

I rolled my eyes, turning to the dashboard and popping a CD in. Scanning through the songs, I decided on _Zombie _by the Cranberries.

"Whatever you say," I said, rolling up the window. I glanced at the passenger seat, where a certain someone's inhaler, which was, in fact, real, sat."Your royal highn_ass."_


	17. Travels

**AN: **

**Tawny: Written on the same night as the two previously posted chapters, but I just now got around to remembering to publish this.**

**Eko: Because you have no life.**

**Tawny: Precisely. I'M ALREADY ON... Episode 9. T.T**

**Mello: … I have to say, I really like what you've done with that last chapter.**

**Matt: Yeah, we've got a say in what happens =:D**

**Roger: I wouldn't go that far.**

**Matt: D:**

**Roger: This is just for Tawny's story. If this were in real life, you'd be suspended for _years._**

**Matt: DD:**

**Roger: In fact, if this were in real life, I would have hit you for that one remark.**

**Matt: . . . But only girls hit. . .**

**Roger: But it's illegal for a man to _punch_ a girl.**

**Mello: PWNED~~~ by the grumpy man in plaid. X3**

**Matt: . . . D:**

**Roger: The grumpy man in plaid that Tawny doesn't own. She doesn't own you two either. Because obviously, if she did, I'd be forced to suffer through your lives being considerably longer.  
Matt and Mello: … and that means...? DX**

**Tawny: NO! BAD GRUMPY-PLAID-GRAMPA-MAN! YOU CAN'T TELL THEM THAT THEY DIE IN EPISODE THIRTY FIVE! . . . ohshi-**

**Matt and Mello: WHAT? ? ? ? ? ? O_O""**

**Eko: … haha, you guise fail.**

**Tawny: Don't you get heady, lil' miss.**

**Eko: … wha? :O**

**Tawny: Haha. Also, dear readers, pay attention to the POV headings. Lemme know if you find anything... worth noting.**

Chapter 17: Travels

~*Eko's POV*~

"Can I go?" I asked, walking into the room and hearing Soichiro tell Aizawa to head back to the station. "Please?" I looked right at L, sitting down next to Matsuda.

"You went to bed too soon," Matsu whispered. "L's actually very cute when he smiles." A little bit disturbed as to why Matsuda would think this, I giggled. He realized what he had said, and quickly made amends. "I-I mean cute like a puppy! Like you! Err..."

"It's okay, Matsuda," I grinned, turning back to L. "Please Ryuzaki?"

"I suppose it wouldn't be any harm to us if you just walked down the street. Aizawa, do you mind?"

"Not at all," he said, actually smiling. I had a feeling that'd be the last smile I'd see come out of him for a while.

"Thank you!" I said, bounding across the room and hugging L, who stiffened from human contact, in an effort to show that I was _trying _to get past his freakishly-like-Beyond-Birthday looks and be mature.

"Yes," he said, almost as monotonously as Near. Almost. Not quite. "However, I do require you to do me a favor," he said.

"Oh?"

"Matt and Mello went missing last night, and Matt's car was removed from the small garage Roger kept it in. Roger told me he had reason to believe they went to all this trouble to bring you an inhaler. Is it correct that you have asthma?"

I blinked. "They'd do that for me?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"Apparently, if it's true."

"... yeah, I do have asthma." I looked out the window for a while, maybe hoping to catch a glimpse of a red Chevy among the streets of Japan. But... "Ryuzaki, it can't have been for me. How would they get to Japan?"

"How else?" he asked. "By plane, of course. Now go on, unless you expect Aizawa to leave you behind."

"Whoops! Sorry!" I gave a start and turned back to Afro-man. "Can we go now?"

He nodded, and we walked out the door. "Some friends you got there," he said as we walked down the hall.

"Hnn?" I looked up. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know where you're from, but it sounds like a far away place if they'd need a plane to get here. All that to bring you an inhaler."

"Oh, Matt and Mello. Britain, actually. No, I don't think it's just for an inhaler. That's probably part of it, but I think it's more of a jealousy thing, really."

"So... they care enough to bring you an inhaler from Britain... yet they're jealous of you?" we stopped to wait for the elevator.

"Well, Matt probably isn't, but Mello... I dunno. He could be... He's always hated Near with a fiery passion for being number one, and yet there I go, blazing my way through the numbers. I honestly don't know why he hasn't tried to kill me."

"But you were friends before, right?" he asked, stepping in the elevator with me and pressing the ground floor button. I noticed this hotel had a thirteenth floor.

"Uh- yeah. We hit it off alright, I guess. Gave me chocolates," I recalled, fingering the half eaten bar in my fresh-washed jacket pocket.

"He gave you chocolates," he said, walking through the lobby with me, "and yet you say he wants to kill you?"

I sighed, shaking my head, feeling the morning air on my neck as we walked out the front door. "Ehh, it's complicated. You'd understand if you met Mello."

He chuckled. This was throwing me off; my first impressions were never wrong, and he was completely going against my first impression. Where was grumpy Aizawa? Maybe he was just in a really, really bad mood last night.

"So remind me again why we need to go to the... wherever we're going?"

He laughed. "Cabin Fever, eh? We're going to the police station so that it's not empty if anybody tries to contact us. Ryuzaki said there needs to be somebody there at all times."

"I see," I said.

He looked up. "Looks like it's going to rain," he commented.

I sniffed the air. "Nah, there's not enough salt in the air. I say it's going to snow."

"What, now you're a human barometer?" he joked. "Oh!" A snowflake landed on his nose.

"Apparently," I laughed. "Didya bring an umbrella?"

"Yeah, thankfully." He pulled out one of those umbrellas that fold up real tiny but when you open them, they're huge.

"Do you carry those around everywhere?" I asked as we passed a couple on the side of the street. It was a brunette boy with hair that looked like he spent more time on it than Font would when he's imitating a super model, and a raven haired girl that looked several years older. _Cougar,_ I thought playfully and lightly.

Since I was close, I could see that the boy was holding her drivers license up and a piece of paper. I was just close enough to see what it read...

_Naomi Misora_

_January 2_

But we were too far away before I could read any more. I glanced back over my shoulder to see the brunette look at his watch. _Now what is he doing...?_ My natural instinct was to stay and watch. Something in the air didn't feel right...

"Aizawa," I said, tugging his sleeve. "You go on. I'll catch up."

"Why?"

"I just wanna see something. I think I know her," I improvised.

I turned just in time to see the raven headed girl- Naomi, I'm guessing- turn around and hear the brunette say "What's the matter?"

"There's something I have to do," she said distantly.

He flicked out a cell phone and said in a rather condescending voice, "My father's cell phone might be available now. Do you wanna see if you can talk to 'em?"

"... No, thank you. I have nothing to say to him." I stopped and looked at her worriedly. I didn't stop to hear what he said, but instead just caught up to her.

"Hey, you okay?"

"... fine."

"Bad breakup?" I guessed.

"... Yes, actually. But it's okay. We'll be together again soon..." I wasn't sure if that implied her stalking the brunette or... or suicide.

Swallowing, I put my hand on her shoulder. "Really... Naomi, isn't it?" she didn't answer. "Naomi, are you alright?" she didn't answer, but instead, kept walking. I stopped, her shoulder pulling out of my hand, and I was left there with my arm extended after her. I looked back and saw that the brunette was watching me. His eyes were narrowed, but he was grinning as if he were pleased that Naomi hadn't spoken to me. I took in his face; the golden eyes, the pale skin, the perfect jawline that he had... I had two theories. He was cosplaying a Twilight vampire, or he was just some random stranger who had scared the crap out of this poor woman. Either way, she looked... unwell. I committed his face to memory.

I turned around. "Aizawa, wait up!" I called. "See, I told you I wouldn't take that long," I said, jogging up to his side.

"Well? Did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Know her?"

"Who, Naomi? Yeah." I lied. "I think she's sick."

**Two days later**

I have proof that everyone likes ice cream.

…

Everyone.

Last night, when we were analyzing Ray Penber's death- something I had only just then heard about- at the Shinjuku Train Station, Watari was passing around ice cream to the Task Force. Matsuda was at a desk with about ten piles of surveilance tapes when Watari handed him the first cone of the night. Double scoop. That started Ryuzaki on looking at Watari like a rabid puppy, and he oh-so-spoiledly got his way, getting the second cone of the night. Aizawa, sitting to L's left, expected the next one, but Watari gave it to me, sitting to _Aizawa's _left. Then he gave a cone to Soichiro, then finally Aizawa.

I swear, the look on his face was priceless. Like a kid in a candy store.

Err... an Afro-man in an ice cream shoppe.

Anyway. Back to the present. Matsuda and I were on the couch laughing for no apparent reason. My stomach hurt from all that ice cream last night. Ryuzaki can keep it, I have white chocolate.

… I feel racist now...

"Yes, please hold for a moment," I heard Watari say. "Ryuzaki," everybody's head swiveled to look at L... I had to look up, whereas he was leaning against the couch Matsu and I were sitting at. He was pretty tall, when he stood up. And didn't slouch. And wasn't balled up in that precarious little manner that he was often found in.

Soichiro was a little taken aback that I wasn't surprised by L's demeanor at all; I simply stated that I should be used to it, seeing as I had an 'old friend' that acted the same way.

"It's Ukita from the NPA. He says he's on the phone with someone from the tip line who has information for us."

"Right..." Ryuzaki said. "Then give Ukita the number for line five and ask the informant to call that line instead. It'll be safer that way." He then turned toward Matsu. Oh boy... this was going to be fun. Everybody takes advantage of Matsuda in the most bizarre ways... "Mister Matsuda," he said.

"_Mist__er Matsuda,"_ I quietly whispered in a nasally voice.

"It's okay for you to turn your cell phone on now, actually please turn it on right away." Ah, good ol' L. No social skills whatsoever.

"Ah, sure," he said. The second he pulled it out of his pocket, it rang. _Well, we now know Matsu's line five._

L plucked the phone from his hand. At first, Matsuda looked at the empty area where the phone used to be, then looked up at L and twitched.

"Yes, this is Shuichi, head of public investigation division," Ryuzaki said into the phone, almost flawlessly imitating Aizawa's voice. I blinked. _Well, now we also know that Font's not _too _weird._ His eyes widened, and he stiffened up. "Ray Penber's fiancee?" All jokingness of the situation instantly evaporated. "Naomi Misora..." L looked at Watari, who nodded and turned to the computer. "Heard that name before..." My jaw dropped. _Please be a coincidence. Please..._

No. Watari turned the computer so that we could see her face. It was the same girl.

L and I both gasped at the same time.

It was _her._

L glanced at me, but otherwise said nothing. He hung the phone up, handing it back to Matsuda, who had moved to stand by Aizawa. I decided I'd better get up too.

"Apparently, she's been missing since the day after her fiancee died," L explained.

"I'm sure anyone in her situation would be pretty depressed," Matsuda said. "Was it...?"

"Suicide." Aizawa said.

"No... The Naomi Misora I knew was _strong_, not to mention she was an excellent FBI agent. If _anything_, it's more likely she'd be trying to _catch_ Kira. It appears she may have come to Japan with Penber, it's possible she may have found a lead..." he brought his thumb to his lip in thought. "Everyone," he announced, "I'd like to focus out investigations on only those that Ray Penber was tailing. In particular, he was assigned to two police officers and those closest to them..."

"Very well," Soichiro said. "Who are those two individuals he was investigating?" I felt like I knew...

"Deputy Director Kitamura, along with... Detictive Superintendant Yagami... and their families." Soichiro gasped, and I felt... so... _bad _for him. "At this point I'd like to place wire taps and surveilance cameras in both households." Ryuzaki looked directly in Soichiro's eyes as he said this.

"Surveilance cameras? Ryuzaki!" Matsuda said.

"I don't see how you could even _consider_ this!" Aizawa yelled. "If this got out, we'd have a civil rights scandal on our hands! We'd all loose our jobs!"

"You told me you'd be willing to risk your _lives _for this investigation, but not your _jobs?"_

Everyone was silent.  
"Ryuzaki..." I started. "You can't do this to the poor chief. You know he'd bend over backwards to please you, we all would," I said, waving my arm out behind me, "but this is too far! L, I'm your succeeding protege... I won't let you."

"Ryuzaki," Soichiro cut in, "what are the chances that someone in one of these families... is Kira?"

"... Maybe ten percent... No, it's closer to five percent."

"Seriously? I'm sorry, but it's not worth the risk!" Matsuda voiced my thoughts.

"No." We all looked at the Chief. "Of everybody we've investigated this far, not _one_ person we've investigated seemed the least bit suspicious. Even if it's just a one percent chance, we simply cannot afford to ignore it."

"Chief...?"

"I don't have to tell you how offended I am that my family is under suspicion. Having said that, just go ahead with it." Everybody gasped and exchanged glances. "And make sure you install them everywhere. I don't want any blindspots in the house and that includes the bathroom."

"Thank you very much," L said. "That was my intention."

"_Pedofile!"_ I shouted.

"Come on, Chief! You don't have to agree to _this!" _Aizawa agreed, equally outraged.

"Yes, they're right!" Matsuda was more panicked than angry. "Think about your family! You have a wife and daughter at home, don't you? !"

"_Yes I am well aware of that fact,"_ he said sharply. "But there is no point in doing any of this if we can't be _thorough." _He looked right at me and Matsuda when he shouted "_NOW I SUGGEST YOU KEEP QUIET."_

"_Sorry,"_ we both mumbled.

"No, it's alright," Soichiro said, rubbing his temples. "Excuse me," he said as Ryuzaki crossed the room to sit on a couch.

"As a courtesy to the chief and his family, only he and I will conduct surveilance of their home," he said softly, as if he were truly ashamed. "Watari, how long will it take to prepare the cameras and taps we need?"

"Well, starting tomorrow, I can set them up at any time provided we know when both houses will be empty." I shuddered to think Watari, or someone else, who knew, would be setting up cameras in the Chief's home... the kitchen, the bathroom, the Chief's bedroom, their daughter's...

*~Light's POV~*

"Light, are you up yet?" I heard mom call from downstairs. I sighed, sitting up and pulling a shirt on.

"Yeah," I yawned, "I'm awake."

"Today's trash day, so if you've got any, bring it down, okay?"

"What a pain," I complained, trudging out of my room and down the stairs, dragging my trash can behind me.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, shocked. "I usually don't have any need to remind you!"

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled, dumping my trash in the larger trash bag and shuffling back upstairs to my room, shoving open the balcony door and stretching, letting out a gruff yawn. "'Nother beautiful day," I said halfheartedly.

"Well, then," I heard a rough, gravelley voice say from behind me, "I can't say if you're extremely generous or just a spoiled _brat_," Ryuk floated up to... err, hover beside me on the balcony, "but didn't that mini LCD TV cost ya four hundred bucks?" I glanced at him, but looked away, instead casting my gaze on said TV screen that was now getting crushed by your friendly neighborhood trash guy.

"Yeah."

~*Mello's POV*~

Matt shook me awake.

I raised my head and looked around, noticing that we were the only two left on the plane.

"Thanks for letting me know we landed, _buddy."_

"No problem!" he said, standing up and bounding off. I stretched, standing up and heading out into the terminal, pleased to see it wasn't crowded. I was glad we didn't have any bags. Personal possesions would make it easier to track us down. I caught up with Matt and we were on our way to pick up his car and my bike.

"So... how do you know Eko's in Japan? Gut feeling?"

"No... Roger told me."

". . ."

"... indirectly. He said 'she was eleven, in Japan, and without an inhaler'. See? I pay attention."

"Don't ever let me doubt you again," I said as he unlocked the door.

"Kay... they scratched my baby."

Thirty minutes later, we were booking a hotel suite.

"No smoking! Seriously?"

"Matt, certain guests could be asthmatic. And I don't see how this is any different from you refusing to smoke with the windows rolled up."

"It's because the niccotine would stain the leather," he defended.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "How are we going to book this hotel without a master card...?"

"How about you come with me, boys?" I heard a familiar voice from behind me. Flinching, I slowly turned on my heel.

"H-hi, Mr. Wammy..."

"Need I ask what you boys are doing here? And why you brought this?" he said, holding up a very scared looking sock.

Well, not really an actual sock.

Near, looking mortified and clinging to Mr. Wammy's arm like he was being dangled over a fire pit.

And he was small enough, and more than likely light enough, to do this and not cause the elder's back any stress. I raised my eyebrow.

"That's not ours."

"... How the Hell did he get here?" Matt said.

"He informed Roger that you two were more than likely in Japan. Roger contacted me, and I figured I may as well bring Near along."

"... WHY?" I asked, indignant.

"Because he's gotta make your life Hell _somehow,_ Mels," he said, putting his arm around my neck and walking behind me and away from Mr. Wammy so we could talk in private.

"What the HELL?"

"Shut _up_," he said. "We could use this to our advantage," Matt said, holding up the inhaler.

"... how?"

"Well, for one, Eko likes Near."

"... she does?" What the fuck was he going on about? Who could like Near?

"Y-yeah, at least I think she does. However," he waggled his eyebrows repulsively at me, "that doesn't explain why she came out of your room that day."

"Ugh, go fuck yourself," I said, squirming away from his arm, which was still holding me in a choke hold.

"Hey, come back, I'm sorry. Anyway. We could send Near in to give Eko her inhaler and you don't have to go in there."

"What makes you think I don't want to go in there?"

"Because, for one," he said, looking behind him to see if they were within earshot. Upon deciding we were okay, he pulled me in closer to hear what he was whispering. "Well..."

"Get on with it or I'm going home."

"Okay, okay. Well, you hate Near."

"Yes?"

"... and that was when he was number one."

"No, it's just because he's ahead of me. The only reason why I hang out with you is because you don't flaunt around the fact that you're only one rank away from beating me."

"..."

"What? You expect honesty from a friend, I assume."

"Yeah... well, anyway. Reflect on what you just said. Because Eko is number one, and Near is number two. You hate Near because he's so much more special than you are, you never have any time to realize what everybody is terrified for Eko because of."

I blinked. "I am well aware that Eko is placed higher than Near. She's a smart kid," I said defensively.

"Well... between the two of us, everybody expects you to like..." Caution entered his eyes. "... they expect you to hate Eko more than you hate Near, at the moment. And if you come four dead blood cells away from killing Near, then Eko should be a smear on the concrete by now. You don't realize it, but the entire house is, like, on edge. Waiting to restrain you. It's tense, to say the least."

"... Wow..." I just stared at him, at his eyes through his goggles, those eyes that had kid around with me so many times. Part of me wanted to believe this was all just an elaborate speech to get me to get the inhaler to Eko as soon as possible in order to get himself home so he could get a hold of an electronic of some kind. But those eyes, at the moment, were filled with something other than humor.

I saw fear, for I didn't exactly have a kind reputation.

I saw sadness, for whatever reason he had.

And I saw seriousness, an expression that only ever crossed his face when there was a Nintendo blocking said face from the rest of the world.

And in my eyes?

I'm pretty sure he saw anger, confusion, and disbelief. Because it was the front I put up, instinctually, in order to make people believe that I was the 'tough guy'. When in reality, I was just having trouble comprehending all this.

They thought I was going to attack Eko? Even if he was exaggerating, it was odd. I wouldn't hurt Eko, because...

Because well...

Why wouldn't I attack Eko? For some reason, this was excruciatingly hard to come up with a good reason.


	18. Fortune and Flame

**Tawny: I deeply and sincerely apologize for not publishing the last chapter when it was finished. I thought I had time, but I ended up losing the Internet. And when I got it back, I had already forgotten that I hadn't uploaded =/ This was written on the same night I uploaded the last chapter. :P**

**Eko: Yeah, you forgot about me, Mello and Matt.**

**Matt: THANKS.**

**Tawny: SHADUP OR YOU'RE DYING EARLY, EKO. -.-**

**Eko: … I die? D:**

**Tawny: Lawlno C:**

**Mello, Matt, and Eko: …**

Fortune and Flame

~*Eko's POV*~

"We were so high, we thought we would definitely die," I sang- err, if singing at the top of your lungs counts as singing- to myself, using a hairbrush as a microphone and enjoying the fact that the walls were soundproof. I had a stereo hooked up to my iTunes, a luxury that Ryuzaki had let me get.

And since Matt had taught me how to download music without paying for anything, I was all set.

"Come on kids, eat those pills, you got your whole life to lose," my bed was a complete mess by now. I liked to jump on it, you see. Not that I was jumping on it at the moment.

I totally wasn't jumping on it at the moment.

"We've got cities to visit, we've got trees we've yet to live in, so get yourself on top of me, before I'm gone, go-"

"Is it too late for that?"

I screamed as I turned around and fell to my knees on the bed, dropping the hairbrush. Mello was in my doorframe.

What the fuck?

I jumped up and ran to the computer, turning the music down. Way down.

"Mello?"

"Hey there," he said, walking in the door and looking around. "Nice place," he commented.

"... thanks."

He walked across the room to sit down on the bed as _Fences_ by Paramore softly started in the background. I hadn't turned the music completely off; my room can be quite drab without ambiance.

"Um," I pushed my hair out of my face, blushing.

My room? It was an awful mess.

My clothing? I was in sweats and a tank top.

My hair? Unbrushed, in a messy bun, obviously in need of a de-tangle spray.

My breath? Probably still reeked of morning breath.

My inhaler? Wait... My inhaler?

I sat down on the bed next to Mello as he pulled it out of a jacket pocket. I noticed that he was wearing more and more leather.

"Thank.. you..." I took it from his hand which was holding it out to me.

"No problem. Actually, you should thank Matt. He's out there, interrogating L." He looked away, eyes sweeping my room once more. There really wasn't anything to see, I assured myself. At least I knew what a hamper was. The _last_ thing I wanted was for Mello to see a pair of discarded underwear or something.

"Yeah, he's uh..." I blinked. "He's something." I think he and I both knew that I was referring to the fact that he looked eerily like Beyond Birthday.

"Hmm..."

"What?"

"Just thinking."

"Bout what?"

"Matt said something that bugged me, that's all. So how're you?"

"... how are _you_?"

"Fine," he said evasively.

We sat in silence for an awkward while, filled only by the soft music playing on my iTunes.

"_I am going to attempt to drown myself. You can try this at home."_

"... Eminem? Really?" Mello said finally, arching his eyebrow at me. I shrugged.

"Mum was a druggie."

"... oh."

"Nothing serious, though. She did what she could to keep me and Trav okay," I said, standing up to change the song. "I mean... when she did take drugs, she got scary. Like... She was just really really weird. Violent," I didn't have to pick a song. Thank you shuffle. I didn't need the awkwardness of scrolling through songs. _All These Things That I've Done _by The Killers was more acceptable for a girl my age to be listening to, anyway.

"That's tough," he said sympathetically. "At least you were kidnapped," he joked. "My folks abandoned me. It was raining, and I got so sick, it's a wonder why I'm still alive," he was grinning as I sat down by him.

"You are so full of it," I grinned as well. I tilted my head, sweeping a stray bit of hair behind my ear. "Can I have a hug?"

"Err," he blinked.

"Please?" I smiled. "Miss you guys. You have no idea," I said.

"Umm... sure," he said, awkwardly, holding his arms out. I snorted.

"Come on, Mellsy," I said, hugging him and smiling ear to ear in his shoulder. "Relax. We're practically family. Jerkazaki in there won't let me come home until the Kira case is over."

"Wait, what? You can't come home?" he pulled away.

"Naw," I said. I'd already accepted this. I was fine.

"Why?" he said, crossing his legs and looking at me seriously.

"Because if L dies, I'm expected to immediately continue this case."

"... that... bites."

"Majorly. Now you gonna tell me what Matt said to upset you?" I asked.

"Oh? It was nothing," he said.

"Then why did it bug you so much?" I asked. "Mello, you're probably not gonna see me for a while. Maybe even years. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be here now."

He sighed. "Fine. I keep trying to think of a reason why I shouldn't hate you, but I can't come up with any. Yet, I _don't hate you._"

"... I'm not following. Matt said you should hate me?"

"No! Well, more or less. He just pointed out that I hate Near to death, yet he basically called me out on crushing on you."

"Well, are you?"

"'Course not."

"Of course not." I reached across him and grabbed the remains of my white chocolate bar from off the bedside table. I smirked as he stared at the chocolate bar.

"Want some?"

"Please? I left my chocolates at Wammy's, and I don't wanna humiliate myself by asking L if I can go buy some."

"Sure," I said, handing him the rest of my chocolate bar and rolling my eyes.

"Eww, cooties," he teased, biting off a part where I hadn't.

"Shut up," I giggled, leaning my head against his shoulder. "I'm going to miss you guys so fucking much," I sighed.

"Language," he said, shocked.

"Mello," I blamed him, pointing at him.

He grumbled around my chocolate bar, but otherwise didn't defend himself. I win.

Taking the rubber band out of my hair, for it was starting to give me a headache, I looked at him.

"Mello?" I asked, pulling my knees up to my chest.

"Yeah?"

"What makes people like us?"

"What?" he asked, blinking and looking down at me.

"You know," I said, looking at my socks, because there was nothing else I could look at. Not directly. "All of us. You, and me, and Matt. Even Near."

"Like what, Eko?"

I looked at him. Was he that clueless? "We are so fucked up. All of us. We're never gonna be able to fit in, anywhere. Because of Wammy's house, we're all different."

"Most of us are..." he leaned his chin on his fist.

"No, I mean... I had a chance of fitting in to society before Wammy's... but those chances were slim. Because of my life. Because of mum and dad. And I tried to go to school, I did. But I was teased, of course. Girls are viscous. They'll make fun of you if your skirt's a half a shade different than your top. But now... I'll never have any chance, whatsoever. I'm a social outcast, and you guys are too. You've gotta realize this. I mean..." God dammit, I just wanted to introvert. Why the fuck was I sniffling? "You've grown up all your life to succeed L. You won't last a second in the real world. I've been there, it's tough for a normal kid. You're just so sheltered, all your life, you'd be devastated... _devastated_... if something truly terrible happened to you. Because-"

"Because they won't let us do anything. They think they're helping us, to train us to use our brains, but they're just hurting us. How are we supposed to use our brains if, when we leave Wammy's and do our own shit, we don't even know how to interact with people?" There was silence as we both realized that we harbored the same feelings about Wammy's.

"... Yet, you don't wanna leave," I said for him. "You're scared of the outside world." I let out a short 'ha'. "Mr. Macho, taking on the world with nothing but adrenaline keeping him from running back home. It's entertaining, rea-"

"I'm not scared," he said sharply. I was quiet as he looked at me, his icy blue eyes burning with something contrary to their color. "I'm fucking dead terrified." I blinked. He sighed. "I think it's because you're an 'outsider'. You're the epiphany of normal in our orphanage of psycho genii. In truth, Eko... I'm scared of you."

I stared at him. "I don't... think it's because I'm an outsider... Mello," I said softly, as if the words hurt me. "Because I'm scared... of you. I'm scared too. But I'm not scared of anybody else... Just you," I was really, _really _thankful that his shoulder was right there. Because it blocked him from seeing the tears that made no sense. They shouldn't be there.

Why were they there?

There was silence, again, which made me extremely conscious of my sniffling. Trying to control it only seemed to make it worse. In the background, a soft song that I hadn't bothered to remember the name of played. Well, everything was soft with the volume level it was on.

_I wonder when I'm at my door,_

_Will this key work anymore? _

_Does someone else now live inside?_

_I think the former tenant died..._

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mello's hesitant hand reach for me, and felt it rest on my shoulder. I closed my eyes, sniffing once more. I wasn't being fair. I had a much better life than he did. Mello should be the one about to have a mental break down.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly. "Why are you crying?" I looked at him.

"I don't know," I admitted. I felt drained. His hand moved down from my shoulder to my forearm.

"... Eko?" I blinked to show I was listening. "C-can I try something?" He looked absolutely, positively terrified.

_I don't know if I'll be back this tiiiime..._

I felt my face heat up. I slowly nodded, feeling as scared as he looked. He moved his hand down to my own shaking hand, and I felt my stomach knot up as he just stared at me.

_Sometimes I wish that it were cold_

_So I'd have someone to hold_

_To watch the clouds move through the skies,_

_To keep my feelings occupied..._

He tilted his head, never breaking eye contact with me. I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't. I was mesmerized by the seriousness in the atmosphere.

We were maybe a half an inch away from each other when the door opened.

_I never thought I'd want to leave,_

_I thought I had all that I need,_

_Yet my apartment feels so small,_

_When I come home,_

_And no one's called..._

"Mello-san! Ryuzaki wants to- err," Matsuda, a blushing mess, leaped to hide behind the door that he had just opened. "I-I'll just give you two a moment..." I wanted to die when I saw Matt peek out from behind him.

_I don't know if I'll be back this _

_Time I might just_

_Staaay here with youu..._

We pulled away, and I brushed my hair behind my ear and looked away from all of them. I felt the depression in the bed beside me disappear as Mello stood up and, no doubt embarrassed, stiffly walked across the room. "No, it's okay," he said gruffly. He wasn't used to people seeing through his mask. I had the desolate feeling that I was the first person he had put his walls down for. I heard Mello's 'What does L need me for?' as Matsuda closed the door, and I glared daggers at the inhaler that was laying on my side table. Pitifully, I grabbed a pillow and sobbed into it. Then I threw it at the computer when _Under the Influence_ by Eminem played.

~*L's POV*~

I crouched on a chair, examining tapes for the last time, Soichiro by my side.

Nothing was adding up.

The Kitamura family had it's own drama. What family didn't? I'm sure even mine did, somewhere out there, wherever it may be. Maybe even over searching for missing me. Maybe they'd given up.

Regardless, there was no reason to suspect anybody in the Kitamura household was Kira.

The director himself was a stressed man; he was raising three children on his own. I didn't see how he would even have time to be Kira.

His fourteen year old son was a shy, easily upset boy. However, it unsettled me to see that he often harmed himself with razors. I would make a note to tell the director to check that out, but that would require disclosing that I had set cameras in their house.

His twelve year old daughter was a bright and happy person. She was very clingy to her older sibling; perhaps she was the only reason why said older sibling didn't try suicide. Regardless, I tried not to get attached.

The director had a four year old boy who would randomly have temper tantrums and reminded me a great deal of Mello.

All in all, this family produced no reason for me to suspect these particular people.

The Yagami household was the perfect china doll house.

Mrs. Yagami was, from my gatherings, an excellent chef. However, to me, she seemed very narrow minded, and her main concentration seemed to be the welfare of her son.

The chief's seventeen year old son had astounding grades. I wasn't surprised that Soichiro was so proud of him. His intellect alone was reason to suspect him, but I couldn't make harsh decisions like this.

Their fourteen year old daughter was an average student. She was bubbly, which was, to say the least, annoying. It was hard to believe a ball of energy that was focused mainly on potato chips and television had the time to be Kira.

And, of course, I knew the chief.

So that leaves no reason for suspicion.

Although, I'd like to keep tabs on the Yagami boy, however biased my decision may or may not be.

**Tawny: There you go. Four pages of FLUFFEH and a page of L-ness. **

**Well the fwuff doesn't really start until page two and a half for me.**

**But for you, the scrolly bar would be somewhere around the middle. Ish.**

**Eko: You fail. XD**

**Tawny: Yes, yes I do. But I got a make-up chapter done within six hours. I feel proud. :D!**

**Matsuda: WHEESNAW.**

**Tawny and Eko: . . . WTFMAN.**


End file.
